Description
Château Léoville-Poyferré, Saint-Julien, 2nd Grand Cru Classé
When offering a Grand Cru Classé as prominent and affordable as Second Growth Léoville-Poyferré, in a blockbuster vintage that’s now equipped with eight years of maturity, I feel its value proposition is self-explanatory. In case it isn’t, I’ll happily go into detail.
Those who follow the Bordeaux Classification of 1855 know that only five châteaux “outrank” Léoville-Poyferré: Lafite, Latour, Margaux, Haut-Brion, and Mouton. Over the past several decades, however, several Second Growths have been increasingly recognized for crafting Grand Vins near and even beyond the First Growths, all while charging substantially less. These overperforming legends have been colloquially coined “Super Seconds,” and you’ll surely recognize their names: Cos d’Estournel, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Pichon Longueville, to name a few. And yes, Léoville-Poyferré also belongs to this prized shortlist. If you need further convincing why this bottle is a must-have investment for a Bordeaux collector, consider that it is a front-runner for the greatest “Super Second” value: While all others fetch between $200-$300, L-P is about half of that despite each new release flirting with perfection. In short, I believe this epic 2015 will one day reach the same transcendent level that their beloved 2000 vintage is currently enjoying, i.e. double the price and triple the pleasure. We only have a handful of cases in our possession.
Although the Cuvelier family had owned Léoville-Poyferré since 1920, they long relied on their immediate neighbor, Leoville Las Cases, to manage the property. It makes more sense than you might initially think: Once a commingling of vines and estates, this massive property was divided into three “Leoville-” châteaux in the mid-1800s: Las Cases, Poyferré, and Barton. To this day, Las Cases and Poyferré share the same parking lot!
The true shift into Léoville-Poyferré’s success as a prominent standalone château came in the 1980s and beyond when Didier Cuvelier took over the operations and tapped Emile Peynaud, the “father of modern Bordeaux,” and legendary consultant Michel Rolland to join his team. Didier also spent decades doing complete overhauls in both the vineyard and cellar.
Today’s Grand Vin hails from Poyferré’s 80-hectare vineyard which holds vines with an average age of 45 years—although their oldest Cabernet parcel dates back to the 1940s! The grapes are harvested over several passes and twice sorted before entering the cellar. Since parcels are vinified separately, fermentations occur in a small army of stainless steel vats before blending and transferring into French barrels, 75% new, for 18 months.
The 2015 edition from Léoville-Poyferré overflows with rich and muscular cassis, smoked plum, black cherry liqueur, and sappy blue fruits alongside cigar wrapper, bay laurel, pencil lead, wet gravel, tar, star anise, and sweet baking spices that are nearing full integration. It’s a big and hearty Grand Vin with the gloss of 2015 serving as a beautiful counterbalance to the formidable structure of Saint-Julien Cabernet. Decant 1-2 hours if enjoying a bottle now and lay down your others until at least 2025. It’s hard not to label this a 30-year wine at the minimum, but that’s not to say it doesn’t offer immense pleasure right now. To summarize it in the château’s own words: “This beautiful vintage shows magnificent complexity, placing it among the great vintages of the estate.” Cheers!
