2014 Château Léoville Poyferré, St Julien, Bordeaux
Description
60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc.
There is fleshy, tasty fruit here, and a lovely intensity on the nose. The bouquet is beautifully expressive and laced with sweet, dark fruits. Cassis and dark fruit continue to dominate on the palate, the crunchy tannins a welcome arrival. The wine is very dark, and you can sense an underlying power, even though it doesn't express itself that way, yet. A wine to be cellared for several years, it will reward those with patience. Well balanced, harmonious and, dare I say it, a classic Poyferré.
Berry Bros. & Rudd
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Colour
Red -
Sweetness
Dry -
Vintage
2014 -
Alcohol
13.5% -
Grape
Cabernet Sauvignon,Merlot,Cabernet Franc,Petit Verdot -
Body
Full Bodied -
Producer
Château Léoville Poyferré
Critics reviews
Tasted two times.
The 2014 Léoville Poyferré is gorgeous. Dark, sumptuous and ample on the palate, it possesses remarkable depth. Dark cherry, plum, smoke, scorched earth, licorice and menthol all flesh out as this radiant, deeply expressive wine shows off its considerable pedigree. The 2014 is going to need time to fully come together, but it is super-impressive.
Drink 2020 - 2039
60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. Harvest 1-14 October.
Real perfume on the nose here, so floral with peonies, rich blackcurrants and summer berry notes. Lovely clarity and precision on the palate, soft and delicate with such poise. It's not so expansive right now, a little shy perhaps, but the quality is excellent with the terroir signatures of wet stone and graphite coming through. This has just an easy-drinking appeal, delicately layered but with a juiciness and tannic structure that will ensure a long life ahead.
Drink 2024 - 2046
A ripe, generous and substantial wine for this appellation with some real concentration. Plenty of beautiful currant and blackberry character, as well as a solid core of ripe, dusty and velvety tannins and enough acidity to carry the long, savoury finish. A beauty.
Better in 2024
Cassis and raspberry fruits, smoked and grilled oak notes, this is highly moreish, a little more savoury in its Cabernet Sauvignon expression than you often find at Poyferré, with raspberry leaf, graphite, undergrowth and baked earth. The tannins remain a little angular, and I suggest another few years in bottle. 80% new oak, harvest October 1 to 14.
Drink 2025 - 2048
A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and the balance Petit Verdot that wasn’t harvested until the middle of October this is later than most), the 2014 Léoville Poyferré is a ripe, concentrated, seriously impressive wine in the vintage that offers more exuberance, texture, and character than most. Crème de cassis, graphite, toasty oak, and hints of tobacco all emerge from this purple-coloured, pure, medium to full-bodied 2014 that has sweet tannin, beautiful purity of fruit, and a great finish. While it doesn’t have the depth of a truly great vintage, it shines for its balance, texture, and sheer charm.
Drink 2018 - 2038
Tasted blind. Black with garnet rim. Leafy black fruit scents. Slightly tarry. Compact, fine tannins. Not particularly richly/sweetly fruited at the core but there’s density, balance and harmony for a long life.
Drink 2027 - 2038
The 2014 Léoville-Poyferré is one of the standout Left Bank wines of the vintage. Demonstrating outstanding clarity and freshness on the nose, this seems to just "leap" out of the glass like an over-excited Yorkshire terrier. The palate is medium-bodied with lithe tannins, silky smooth in texture, a perfect line of acidity and a harmonious finish that slips down the throat. This is going to be irresistible for the next 20 years.
Drink 2021 - 2050