Léoville Poyferré 2020

The 2020 Leoville Poyferre is deep purple-black in color. Gregarious scents of redcurrant jelly, kirsch, and warm cassis prance out of the glass, leading to subtle nuances of wild sage, graphite, damp soil, and crushed rocks, before giving glimpses of a gorgeous underlying perfume of lilacs, lavender, and cinnamon stick. The fantastically vivacious, medium-bodied palate vibrates with amazing energy, delivering crunchy red and black fruit layers, framed by firm, fine-grained tannins and a racy backbone, finishing long and perfumed. Exquisitely graceful with a natural beauty, this is a real head-turner!

A rich, powerful wine, the 2020 Léoville Poyferré offers up aromas of sweet berries, blueberry liqueur, exotic spices, incense and creamy new oak. Full-bodied, broad and layered, it's deep and concentrated, its ample core of fruit only partially concealing a hefty payload of sweet, powdery, generously extracted tannin. Poyferré is generally the most flamboyant and demonstrative of the three Léovilles, but in 2020, it's chunkier, broader shouldered and more brooding than usual. 2030 - 2050

Deep colour with a sweet, dark fruited nose of blackberry, blackcurrant and wood smoke. The sweetness is measured on the palate, which has bright acids and chewy tannins. Brambly fruit has a lifted, floral edge which adds to the precision is this finely balanced Poyferre. Hints of exotic spice come through on an expansive finish, which manages the exuberance of the property superbly. Long and layered on the finish, this will drink very well from 2030.

This is really floral on the nose with violets and roses, and some black berries and dark cherries. It’s medium- to full-bodied with firm and polished tannins, and plenty of hazelnut and milk chocolate. Structured, yet so finely textured. So attractive and enticing now but needs three or four years to show what it has. Try after 2026.

Excellent quality, head and shoulders above most of the vintage even in St Julien. Blackberry, black truffle, damson, liqourice, crayon and crushed rocks throughout. Great stuff. Harvest September 14 to 30, 35hl/h yield, 3.8ph. Consultant Michel Rolland, winemaker Isabelle Davin, 80% new oak. A speical bottle as this vintage marks 100 years with the Cuvelier family.

Full bottle 1,345 g. 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. Plot-by-plot fermentation and ageing for 18 to 20 months (still in train, as the notes explain). Here they admit they don't do the final assemblage until June.
Dark crimson. Relatively voluptuous nose. Flattering initially but then with quite a charge of inky tannins underneath. Needs time. Notably dry on the finish but with good density. Rather more obviously dry and less flashy than some vintages. Very much made for the long term with a juicy, spicy undertow. Extremely youthful. Unusually, it seems drier than Léoville Barton. 13.7%
Drink 2030 – 2053

2020 marks 100 years of Cuvelier family ownership at Léoville Poyferré, which will be commemorated with a special bottle in this vintage. It is a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 3% Carbernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Deep purple in colour. The nose is smoky and rich, full of cassis, kirsch, cinnamon and liquorice. The palate is full of brambly fruit that is matched by grippy, mouthcoating tannin and intense sweet spice. This will take a few years to fully integrate, but should offer plush, powerful but measured drinking in from 10 years after vintage.

(64% CS, 31% M, 3% CF, 2% PV; 13.7% ABV; 80% new)
Inky; closed to smell, blackcurrant-tight; rich, elegantly “packed” wine, with a perfectly poised, freshly defining acidity and a superfine, velvety tannin, an overall effortlessly harmonious balance; ripe rather than “sweet, ” long, graceful, rich, but not heavy, taut, close-grained, freshly ripe blackcurrant and mineral in flavor, very long across the palate, with a wonderful finish of subtle ripe fruit fragrance and fine gravel aromas. Most complete, a real beauty. 2030–50+.