Château Léoville Poyferré 2020

Le bouquet de Léoville Poyferré pose les jalons d’entrée. Il n’a visiblement peur de rien, mais sait s’autogérer afin de ne pas tout révéler en même temps. Ainsi, il révèle une multitude de nuances avec des notes de poivre, de réglisse et de baies rouges et noires ainsi que de classiques marqueurs tels que graphite et cèdre. Je relève également la subtile alliance entre charme et puissance en bouche. J’ai souvent eu l’impression qu’on marche sur un fil à Poyferré et on s’attend à ce que l’ensemble bascule dans la douceur… et pourtant c’est toujours l’harmonie qui s’impose. Le vin dispose de tannins fins, denses et poudreux et, surtout, d’une fraîcheur salutaire, peut-être une des clefs essentielles dans une notion d’équilibre. Un vin puissant, serein, profond et long. C’est très grand, en résumé ! 2027-4047. Novembre 2022.

Couleur sombre, intense, aux reflets pourpres. Nez très aromatique, fin, fruité, frais, floral, crémeux, subtil. Nuances d'encre et de violette à l'agitation du verre. Moelleux en entrée de bouche, très aromatique au milieu, avec un corps fondant et un toucher raffiné, le vin gagne de la puissance entre le milieu et la finale. Il s'achève long, complet, séveux et profond, sur un grain de tannin fin et un peu plus parfumé que parfois. C'est superbe ! A consommer de préférence entre 2034 et 2070. Mars 2023.

Supple and generous with mouthwatering acidity, though really quite tannic at this point which does cover up some of the nuance. I like the texture, the frame and the weight, it's clean, polished and well worked, not overdone at all, but this has a sense of potent seduction in the flavours, rich blackcurrant, perfumed and scented. Detailed with lots of stony, slate, and wet stone elements giving a wonderful terroir influence. It's not as immediately charming as the 2019, the tension still prominent, but this will be brilliant in 5-10 years. Drinking window: 2029 - 2042. January 2023.

Of course, this impressive classified growth wine is young. But it's easy to discern its promise. Black fruits and layers of sophisticated tannins are balanced with the wood aging and smoky fruit flavors. This estate in the heart of Saint-Julien has produced a very fine wine, fresh and structured at the same time. Drink from 2026. Roger Voss. January 2023.

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. Drinking window: 2023 - 2050. William Kelley. April 2023. With some 80 hectares under vine, Léoville Poyferré's parcels are interfingered with those belonging to the Delon and Barton families by the river and on the plateau of Saint-Julien. The soils are cultivated less frequently and less deeply these days, and conversion to organic methods is gradually being rolled out, parcel by parcel, some being easier to farm this way than others. Winemaking features a five- to eight-day cold soak, followed by comparatively long macerations, and maturation is in 80% new oak, with lots destined for new barrels completing their malolactic fermentation in barrel. Combined with an elevated percentage of Merlot in the vineyards (though the tendency here, as elsewhere, is to replant with more Cabernet Sauvignon), this has tended to deliver the richest, fleshiest, most flamboyant of the three Léoville estates, but while it's generally the most open out of the gates of the three, that hasn't come at the expense of longevity.