It is often said that man is made by history, and it is much the same for wine. The history of Léoville dates back to 1638, recounting the complex tale of men and women, family inheritances and property divisions. Each part of that story resides in the stones of the soil beneath our feet and the walls that surround us, echoing their legacy through the ages.

Château Léoville Poyferré was the Léoville that got left in the starting blocks in terms of reputation and in the quality of its wines.

Léoville Poyferré has been owned by the Cuvelier family (who also own Château Le Crock) since 1921, yet it was not until the 1970s, when Didier Cuvelier took control at the château, that quality began to improve. In the last 20 years, Didier, with the assistance of Michel Rolland since 1995, has turned Léoville-Poyferré into one of St-Julien’s finest estates.

Léoville Poyferré traditionally produced the softest and most supple wine of the 3 Léovilles, yet in the last decade the wines have definitely put on weight and body. This is largely due to the grapes being harvested riper and later and because of the increased exposure to new oak in the maturation process.

Now up with the best of the St-Juliens but still selling at non-scary prices. Léoville Poyferré is classified as a 2ème Cru Classé.

Léoville Poyferré has 80 hectares of vineyards planted with Cabernet Sauvignon (65%), Merlot (25%), Petit Verdot (8%) and Cabernet Franc (2%) on Terraces of Mindel gravel, sandy-clay subsoil

Blend: 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot, 4% Cabernet Franc

Colour: deep, dense color, very saturated.
Nose: fine and complex with a very pure expression of fruit, notes of cedar.
Palate: Full, powerful attack. Fleshy, dense mid-palate, carried by the rich tannins. Exquisite finish supported by a sublime tannic structure, fine, elegant and balanced.

Wine Enthusiast – 96 points

Barrel sample. This very ripe, full-bodied wine is powered by sweet blackberries and solid tannins. It is a full, concentrated and complex wine that has a great future.

James Suckling – 94 points

Really beautiful now with blackcurrant, licorice and red-berry aromas, following through to a full body with layers of fine tannins and a beautiful finish. It’s really starting to drink nicely . Drink or hold.

Jeb Dunnuck – 93 points

One of the more stacked, ripe and rockingly textured wines from the left bank, the 2012 Léoville Poyferré sports a deep ruby/purple color to go with terrific notes of crème de cassis, graphite, lead pencil shavings and violets. Rich, full-bodied, supple and forward, with low acidity and ripe tannin, give bottles 4-5 years (although it dishes out ample pleasure even today) and enjoy through 2037.

Wine Advocate – 94 points

Owned by the Cuvelier family since 1920, this property over the last 20 years has made some great wines in the Médoc. The 2012, a blend of 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc, is opaque purple, thick-looking, and from bottle much more impressive than it was from barrel. This very extracted, rich, full-bodied, masculine Léoville Poyferré needs a good 5-8 years of bottle age and should evolve well for at least 20-25 years. Loads of blackberry and cassis, crushed rock and graphite notes are present in this medium to full-bodied, impressively concentrated and pure wine. Forget it for a while, as this is one of the bigger, richer Médocs.