Leoville Poyferre 2019 (1.5L)

98 JD / 97 VM / 97 AG / 97 JA / 97 DE / 97 WCI / 96 WA / 96 WS / 95 WI / 95 JS / 18 JR

The flagship 2019 Château Léoville Poyferré is based on 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, and the balance Petit Verdot. It's one of the bigger, richer wines in the vintage and has a gorgeous, thrilling, full-bodied style as well as notes of crème de cassis, tobacco leaf, violets, and chocolate. While many estates seem to be playing it safe and focusing on so-called elegance and balance, I love that Poyferré continues to make a ripe, sexy, beautifully textured wine that always offers more opulence and sexiness than most in the vintage. Ranking with the crème de la crème of the vintage, this gorgeous Poyferré can be enjoyed any time over the coming 40-50 years. Bravo! - Jeb Dunnuck

The 2019 Léoville-Poyferré has the quintessential "LP" bouquet of perfumed blackberry, black plum, perhaps less tobacco than last year but still those hints of desiccated orange peel. It opens beautifully in the glass. The palate has a satin-like texture, a fine bead of acidity and fine pixelation. It is perhaps less luxuriant than I found this last year from barrel and has become slightly more linear, displaying a touch more breeding and precision. It fans out wonderfully on the finish, completing a fabulous Saint-Julien with huge potential. 14.18% alcohol - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

The 2019 LéovillePoyferré is creamy, racy and voluptuous to the core. Bright red cherry/plum fruit, blood orange, mint, spice and menthol fill out the layers with effortless grace. In some tastings, the 2019 has come across as quite powerful, while in other moments it shows greater finesse. Either way, the 2019 is positively stunning. I very much admire its energy and persistence. Tasted three times. -- Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

Powerful, seductive, sexy and balanced, this has tension right from the start, coiled textured tannins that have grip, salinity and vibrancy. Creamy damson, blackberry and smoked vanilla pod expand through the mid palate. I loved it En Primeur but it has improved since and this is an upscore from the 96 points I gave it at my last tasting. Harvest September 22 to October 11. 80% new oak. This year marks the 100th vintage for the Cuvelier family. - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

So aromatic with real complexity of notes on the nose, perfume and black fruits. Quite tannic on the palate, broad-shouldered with a core of liquorice-edged black fruit, dark chocolate and slate giving it quite a serious, gourmet and savoury feel right now. Lovely poise though, with mouthwatering freshness. Feels well made with energy and elegance. A standout wine with plenty on offer. Drinking Window 2027 - 2045 - Georgina Hindle, Decanter

One of the top vintages of Leoville Poyferre, the wine sports a beautiful dark color in the glass. The showy nose opens with black and red fruits, espresso, cocoa, tobacco leaf, smoke and floral aromas. On the palate is there the wine shines with its multiple layers of sensuously textured, deep, ripe, dark red fruits, plush, polished tannins and its multi-layered, lusciously-textured, long, vibrant finish. This will age and evolve for decades with little trouble. Drink from 2027-2055.-Jeff Leve, Wine Cellar Insider

The 2019 Léoville Poyferré is showing very well in bottle, wafting from the glass with aromas of crème de cassis and wild berries mingled with notions of licorice, loamy soil, cigar wrapper and smoke. Full-bodied, velvety and polished, it's broad and enveloping, with an ample core of fruit, ripe tannins and succulent acids, concluding with a long, precise finish. Invariably the most sumptuous of the three Léovilles, featuring some 35% Merlot, the 2019 is a terrific effort that will offer a wide drinking window. - William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

Throws off some seriously gorgeous warmed plum, blueberry reduction and açaí berry compote aromas and flavors, laced with ganache and sweet tobacco from start to finish. Delivers ample structure in the guise of a cold cast iron note buried underneath the showy fruit, with a flash of violet for treble in the background. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2025 through 2040. - James Molesworth, Wine Spectator

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2019 Leoville Poyferre charges out with powerful notes of baked blackcurrants, prunes, and blueberry compote, plus hints of balsamic, Chinese five spice, and tobacco. Medium to full-bodied with mouth-coating black fruit preserves and chewy tannins, it finishes long and spicy. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Independent

Blackcurrant, wet-earth with fresh black-mushroom aromas. Some chocolate, too. Full-bodied with layers of beautiful, ripe fruit and creamy tannins. It’s chewy and focused. Impressive balance. Try after 2025. - James Suckling

Deep dark red with opaque core and purple at the rim. Intense aroma of cassis and cedar but also a more savoury black, charry note, almost tarry, but pure. Fabulously dry tannins, grainy but not thick. Really fresh even with this higher alcohol. Powerful, deeply fruited and finishes deliciously dry without being in the least astringent. Lots of embryonic, upright pleasure even though it is nowhere near ready to drink. -Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson