Leoville Poyferre 2023 (3.0L)

98 JA / 95-97 JD / 95-97 VM / 96 DE / 96 WCI / 95-96 JS / 93-95+ WI / 93-95 WA

#7 Jeb Dunnuck Top 25 2023 Bordeaux En Primeur

Brilliant Poyferré, deep ruby colour, setting the scene for ink, campfire, espresso, mint, cassis and damson. Concentrated but with a delicious balance, this feels effortless and is truly a wine for Bordeaux lovers to seek out. Harvest September 14 to October 5. 80% new oak, 52hl/h yields, biggest since 2004, with more 1st wine than usual because the old Cabernet Sauvignon plots gave quality and quantity (after three low quantity years). Alix Combes new vineyard manager, replacing long time manager Bruno Clenet. - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

As to the Grand Vin 2023 Château Léoville Poyferré, it's similarly purple-hued and has a perfumed, upfront profile in its red and black fruits as well as notes of graphite, spicy wood, and spring flowers. It's quintessential Saint-Julien on the palate with its supple, elegant profile, and it’s medium to full-bodied, with a deep, layered mid-palate, gorgeous tannins, and a great finish. It's a stunning 2023 with depth, richness, and length. The blend is 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Petit Verdot. - Jeb Dunnuck

The 2023 Léoville-Poyferré is positively stellar. Medium in body, vibrant and beautifully persistent, the 2023 is all class. It also signals a shift away from the richer (but equally successful) style favored here in the recent past, now moving toward an approach that favors more vibrancy. Dark red-toned fruit, blood orange, spice, mocha and cedar infuse the 2023 with notable freshness and verve. The new LéovillePoyferré is quite the stunner. Tasted two times. -- Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

Bramble fruit tones on the nose with some floral elements of peony, violet and rose. Smells rich and ripe and quite opulent. Smooth and agile, a lovely energy straight away with bright, almost high-toned fruit, the acidity giving the lift and sense of freshness. Lean and straight but so juicy so you get the relatively tight structure but with mouthwatering acidity and a touch of sweetness adding bounce and pep to the expression. It’s still quite compact in terms of real expansion but there’s a long length. Really suave, almost subtle and dialled back which is great and the juiciness is totally moreish. I love it. Easy, generous, appealing. 52.78hl/ha. 10% press wine. 2% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 55% grand vin production. - GH, Decanter

Flowers, cherry pipe tobacco, herbs, currants, black raspberries, licorice, and smoke open the perfume. On the palate, the wine is silky, vibrant, rich, and refined. There is freshness, with ample fruit, which allows you to focus on the finish which is all about the sweet, clean, and pure red fruits with their lift, and energy. This is interestingly light on its feet, yet it is no featherweight wine. Holding its own, this is quite fresh, almost vivacious on the palate. and in the red berry finish. The oak already feels well integrated into the wine. The wine blends 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot. 13% ABV, Drink from 2028-2055. - Wine Cellar Insider

This is already very pretty and polished with plenty of currant and plum character. Medium- to full-bodied with creamy, round tannins and a juicy finish. Caressing. Very refined. - James Suckling

The 2023 Leoville Poyferre is deep garnet-purple in color. Notes of cedar chest and cracked black pepper open out to a core of juicy plums and fresh blackcurrants followed by hints of Provence herbs, lavender, and mossy tree bark. The medium-bodied palate delivers compelling tension with a firm, fine-grained texture and pure black berry flavors, finishing on a floral note. The blend is 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot, with pH 3.68 and TPI 76. - Lisa Perotti-Brown, Wine Independent

Aromas of cassis, plums, pencil shavings and toasty new oak introduce the 2023 Léoville Poyferré, a medium to full-bodied, rich and chunky wine with a deep core of succulent fruit framed by sweet, generously extracted tannins. It's a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot that saw some saignée and osmosis for additional concentration. As usual, it's the creamiest, most "modern"-styled of the three Léovilles. Harvest began on September 14 and concluded on October 5, with fermentations a little cooler than usual, perhaps an intimation of a stylistic evolution in progress. - Wine Advocate, William Kelley