Chateau Leoville Poyferre 2020

Chateau Leoville Poyferre, 2eme Grand Cru Classe St Julien, Bordeaux, France, 2020

Grapes: 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot, 80ha of vineyards on gravel soil, 38 year average vine age, 33hl/ha yield, convereting to organic viticulture, fermentation in steel vats, 18 months' ageing in French oak barrels (80% new), wine consultant Michel Rolland

Chateau Tasting Note:

Didier Thomann, Cellar Master and Bruno Clenet, vineyeard manager, praised the exceptional quality of the Merlot from the Bolitorte plot, describing them as: "racy, generous and opulent".

Moreover, the Cabernet Sauvignon from the Gaunettes plot, closest to the estuary, offered this vintage: "exquisite finesse and elegance".

Critics' Tasting Notes:

"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."

94+/100 points, William Kelley, Wine Advocate

"Deeply colored, the floral display in the nose gets even better as you encounter black cherries, currants, licorice, tobacco leaf, cassis, and an array of spices. The palate provides layers of silky, fresh, pure, deep red berries. The wine is dense, concentrated, sweet, ripe, fresh, and polished. There is a wonderful sense of purity in the fruit. Effortless to taste, and even even easier to drink, the wine exudes sensuality, and complexity from start to finish."

98/100 points, Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider, May 2023