| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Julien |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
Like its neighbour Léoville Barton, Poyferré is always good value for money when first offered en primeur. Consultant oenologue Michel Rolland produces wines with a smoother, more fleshy character than the seriously structured wines of its neighbours. The result is a delicious St Julien that can usually charm early in its life and can stand the test of time. Plantings in the 80 hectare vineyard are 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc. The wine is usually a little more plump and exotic than the other two Léovilles.
The 2016 Léoville-Poyferré appears to have closed up a bit on the nose, perhaps a little cowed by the strong showing of the 2015 on this occasion. It is very pure and begins to unfurl with aeration, but the aromatics are not coming out to play today. The palate is medium-bodied with fine boned tannins, beautifully proportioned and symmetrical. The oak is seamlessly integrated with a citrus touch on the finish. This will be awesome, but it will need time in bottle. Tasted at the Léoville-Poyferré vertical at the château with Sara Lecompte Cuvelier.
Wow. The power and depth to this wine is super with a full and fleshy palate, yet so tight and integrated with panache and energy. Chewy tannins yet seamless and melted in the wine. Extremely long and beautiful. This needs at least five to six years to resolve the steely tannins that run through this wine. Take a look from 2024. A blend of 61 per cent cabernet sauvignon, 27 per cent merlot, eight per cent merlot and four per cent cabernet franc.
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2016 Leoville Poyferre is a little shut down at first, slowly yielding scents of warm cassis, plum preserves, and black raspberries, plus hints of tar, licorice, and fragrant earth. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is rich and densely laden with seductive black fruits, supported by firm, rounded tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing long and incredibly pure. This is still so young in color and evolution - amazing!
This is always a big, dramatic wine which does well in big vintages. Right through the palate you feel the beautiful architecture, and the beauty of 2016 means that the final impression is of a sophisticated but supremely balanced wine with a modern construction. Damsons and bilberries abound, with clear tension where the skin of the wine is pulled tightly over the drum. It is less of a 'classical' St-Julien than some this year, but it is entirely of itself, and excellent. The blend is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc, with a full 55% of the overall production making it into the grand vin, which has 3.66pH. Michel Rolland has been consultant for many years, working closely alongside owner Didier Cuvelier.
Drinking Window 2027 - 2050
Tasted blind. Lighter than some with admirable freshness. Crackling texture and real lift. Long. Very well put together. Not to be underestimated even if it’s not flashy.
Drink 2026 – 2050
Like its neighbour Léoville Barton, Poyferré is always good value for money when first offered en primeur. Consultant oenologue Michel Rolland produces wines with a smoother, more fleshy character than the seriously structured wines of its neighbours. The result is a delicious St Julien that can usually charm early in its life and can stand the test of time. Plantings in the 80 hectare vineyard are 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc. The wine is usually a little more plump and exotic than the other two Léovilles. This year 55% of the total production will make the Grand Vin. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2016 shows a very deep colour for the vintage. Rich with damson, almond and wood smoke on the nose. The palate is powerful and dense, with the ripe black fruit core frame by chunky, rich tannins. The firm and mouthcoating structure brings spicy wood smoke but the fruit intensity adds notes of cream and sweet vanilla. Lifted by fresh acidity, the concentration and ripeness find notes of bramble fruits and clove on a long finish.
Tasted on four separate occasions where this wine rated 97+, 98, 98, and 99, the 2016 Château Léoville-Poyferré is a brilliant bottle of wine and is certainly in the same league as the 2000, 2003, 2009, and 2010. Made from 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, and the balance Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, aged in 80% new oak, this brilliantly concentrated, full-bodied, opulent beast of a wine offers a heavenly bouquet of crème de cassis, blackcurrants, smoked earth, tobacco leaf, and ample crushed rocks. It’s certainly one of the most flamboyant and opulent wines in the vintage, yet it remains perfectly balanced, with masses of polished tannins, no hard edges, and a fabulous finish. It will be drinkable in 3-4 years yet keep for 3-4 decades. Drink 2022-2062.
The black fruits on the nose are sweet the palate fleshy with ripe tannins mid richness. Fresher towards the back bramble and bilberry balance the rich black cherry and chocolate the finish has depth of fruit sweet and ripe. 2026-40
More than half of the production went into the Grand Vin in 2016, and the quality of the wine more than justifies it. Lively, perky and refreshing, it’s the best Léoville-Poyferré since 2010, with plenty of structure, granular tannins, smoky oak and a core of crunch, dark berry fruit. 2026-36
The 2016 Léoville-Poyferré has a pH of 3.66 and an IPT level of 88. It seems to have tightened up since en primeur, now offering intense blackberry, bilberry and veins of blue fruit; there’s a little gloss here but the terroir comes through. The smooth, sensual palate is medium-bodied with ripe tannin, very well-judged acidity and great substance and style on the finish. Undoubtedly, this is one of the most sophisticated Poyferré in recent years. 13.6% alcohol. Drink 2023-2048.
The 2016 Leoville-Poyferre is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. Didier Cuvelier told me that color leeched out naturally and he conducted an 8 day pre-fermentation maceration. Matured in 80% new oak with some malolactic in barrel, it has a typical bouquet for this estate with opulent but neatly controlled, billowing scents of black cherries, black plum, crème de cassis and violets. The palate is beautifully balanced with fine tannin, a killer line of acidity and perhaps one of the most harmonious Poyferré that I have encountered at this juncture. It just glides across the mouth and slips down the throat with consummate ease. Superb. Drink 2024 - 2060.
The buildup on the palate is impressive with blackberry and blueberry character. Plenty of currants, too. Full-bodied, linear and tight. Racy tannins and a long finish. Shows tension, depth, real raciness and pure finesse. A combination of the best from both 2009 and 2010.
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Léoville Poyferré hits the ground running with intense cassis, violets, dark chocolate, menthol and fragrant earth notions complemented by nuances of cigar box and smoked meats. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is charged with energetic, super intense black fruit and floral layers, beautifully supported with super firm, ripe, grainy tannins and seamless freshness. This liquid is simply alive in the mouth, culminating in an epically long finish that will leave your mouth practically tingling. WOW! Drink 2021 - 2050.
Lively and very fresh. Fine oak tannins but beautifully polished and refined. Perhaps just slightly too sweet for perfection but it should deliver a lot of pleasure! Great appetising, sweet, ink character on the end.
Drink 2026-2045
Deep purple. Very deep. Really rich and winning. Much more mouth-filling than the other wines from this stable. Really fresh but broad and ripe. Great freshness. Long and beautifully balanced. 13.6%
Drink 2027-2045
Looking at the 2016 Leoville Poyferre from barrel, this deep, inky-colored Saint-Julien doesn’t pull any punches and boasts serious amounts of ripe currant, blueberry, and cassis-like fruits, liquid violets, crushed rocks and graphite on the nose. A rich, full-bodied, prodigious barrel sample that has a stacked mid-palate, ripe, sweet tannin and a blockbuster finish, it’s going to need a decade to shed its baby fat, but it has thrilling purity of fruit and is an awesome wine. 2026 - 2066
