Château Léoville Poyferré, 2ème Cru Classé, St Julien, 2025
Sara Lecompte Cuvelier's Leoville Poyferre ranked amongst our finest wines of the left bank. It's something of a slow burner, it grows in the glass, getting better all the time, revealing breadth and dimension. Initially quite shy and more about structure, there's lots of energy and character. With aeration it begins to reveal some florality, cherry and cassis. The palate boasts lots of chewy forest fruits and liquorice notes infused with minerals, spices and violet-accented blackcurrant. It's hulking and powerful, yet restrained and sophisticated, with bright acidity and fine tannins providing freshness and length. Dynamic and full of excitement.
critic reviews
The 2025 Léoville-Poyferré was picked from September 8 to 23 at just 20.3 hl/ha, undergoing a six-day cold pre-fermentation maceration and matured in 80% new oak. This is quintessential Poyferré on the nose, quite sensual and pure in style, with layers of ripe black fruit, black plum, a hint of camphor and violet. Wonderful delineation. The palate is framed by fine tannins, beautifully balanced, again quite minerally in style, with a precise and persistent graphite-tinged finish. If you love Poyferré, then you are going to adore this.
Luscious, fabulous construction and grip, a true slow unroll, with waves of orange peel minerality, cocoa bean and espresso, silky texture, great quality, squid ink, yield extremely low at around 20hl/ha but manages to retain an opulent drinkability once you give it time in the glass. An easy one to recommend, and this has so many hidden depths. Harvest September 8 to 23. 3.73 pH. 20.38 hl/ha. 80% new oak. 3.71 pH. Harvest September 8 to 23. Old vines at Poyferre naturally low yields, and with the dry summer, this was the first year since 2011 to do no saignee at all during fermentation because already such natural concentration.
Shy and introverted at this stage, the 2025 Léoville Poyferré reveals a somber bouquet of oak, spice, licorice and ripe dark berries. Medium- to full-bodied, dense and deep, it’s broad-shouldered and structured, built around a creamy new-oak mid-palate framed by an abundant tannic chassis that carries through to a spicy, oak-influenced finish.