Château Léoville Poyferré 2014

Very pure, with a beautiful beam of violet and plum sauce carried by a chiseled graphite spine. Gorgeous anise and roasted apple wood notes are inlaid seamlessly on the finish. Shows ample grip and drive. Rock-solid. Best from 2020 through 2030. 15,000 cases made.

Strong nose, supple and forward, quite highly charged in terms of fruit ripeness. The fruit fades a little quickly, leaving some mineral stones and dry tannins on the finish, but not enough to make this unpleasant. A confident style, a little pushed, perhaps less easy than some but still characterful and persistent. A nice wine to open and drink today. Enjoyable.

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, savory finish. Slight lean now. Better in 2024.

The 2014 Léoville Poyferré has a magnificent nose that is a cut above its peers: more concentrated, more delineated, and with stunning depth and complexity that only emerges with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, but this Saint-Julien has real backbone and density, with impressive substance toward the finish. One of the best wines on the Left Bank. This is the finest bottle I have tasted, and it is far from representing the best Left Bank in this vintage. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting.

Classic in style, with strong essences of cedar, tobacco, and herbs to accompany the crisp red fruits, the wine is medium-bodied, chewy, bright, sweet, and fresh, with an herbal, leafy accent to the red fruit on the finish. It is still youthful, but with 2 hours of air, you can drink this with pleasure today.

A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and the balance Petit Verdot that wasn’t harvested until mid-October (later than most), the 2014 Léoville Poyferré is a ripe, concentrated, seriously impressive wine for the vintage, offering more exuberance, texture, and character than most. Crème de cassis, graphite, toasty oak, and hints of tobacco all emerge from this purple-colored, pure, medium- to full-bodied 2014 that has sweet tannins, 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 this beauty anytime over the next 15–20 years.

60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. 36 hl/ha. Extremely dark purple with lilac and violet highlights. I had it on the nose immediately after Barton and Ducru. While the others appeared rather discreet, this one was an absolute rodeo bouquet! Plenty of black cherries, plenty of cassis, dark noble woods, a touch of Arabica coffee. Behind that, it also shows very fine green Cabernet traces. On the palate, a mouthful of wine—fleshy, dense, complex, and rich in every respect. From the ripe, pronounced tannins to the concentration, all the way to the catapult-like finish. Among the Deuxièmes, this was the most arrogant version. But why shouldn’t a great Cru have edges and angles? Especially when it’s endowed like this. A noble farmer with Saint-Julien power! If it keeps all its en primeur promises through to the bottle, it can pick 19/20.

60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. 36 hl/ha. Extremely dark purple with lilac and violet highlights. I had it on the nose right after the Barton and Ducru. While the others came across rather softly, this one was an absolute rodeo bouquet! Lots of black cherries, plenty of cassis, dark noble woods, a touch of Arabica coffee. Behind that, very fine green Cabernet traces as well. On the palate, a mouthful of wine—fleshy, dense, complex, and rich in every respect. From the ripe, distinctive tannins to the concentration and through to the catapult-like finish. Among the Deuxièmes, this was the most arrogant version. But why shouldn’t a great Cru have edges and angles? Especially when it’s equipped like this. A noble farmer with Saint-Julien power! If it keeps all its en primeur promises through to bottling, it can pick 19/20.

(60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc) Powerful, dense, velvety bouquet, black berries, Black Currant, licorice, smoke. Dense, powerful, muscular palate with a tightly woven structure, dark, intense aromatics, plenty of fine tannins, velvety fruit, very long, powerful, firm finish with dark afterflavors. 18/20 2022 - 2045

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.

We’ve been saying it for years: Léoville Poyferré has risen—slowly but very surely—into the select group of Médoc classics. A purist’s wine that remains far from inaccessible, this cru, guided with finesse by Didier Cuvelier, is always beautifully built for aging, without ostentation yet with that distinctly Bordeaux sense of brightness and freshness. It shines in the 2014 vintage with a generous Havana-like nose, developing a complete profile with noble tannins, always seductive. One of our favorites in this vintage, which deserves to rest for a long time in the cellar of any discerning gentleman.

This superb success shines with the brilliance of its fruit and its fleshy character, with a mid-palate that remains very flavorful.

An opulence of black fruits dominates the nose, lifted by the exhilarating freshness of raspberry leaf. On the palate, the dark-toned aromas are seductive, addictive like a new lover, with indulgence, richness, and a deliciously saline finish. A very accomplished wine.

Deep ruby red with purple highlights. What aromatic intensity and complexity. Black fruits such as blackcurrant, blackberry, prunes and gingerbread. With aeration, I also detect pepper and a malty edge, as well as notes of licorice. On the palate, the attack is luscious and intense. A true surge of energy that reconciles both finesse and power. The tannins emerge slowly on the finish and are exceptionally precise, with an outstanding ability to rival and even steer the structure. A wine that ranks among the elite of 2014. Bravo.

Logo on the cork: LBG Once again 2014 challenges 2015. The style is a bit more austere, but the palate presence is greater. Very good length.

The 2014 Léoville Poyferré is medium to deep garnet in color. Notes of warm cassis and dried herbs jump out on the nose, plus suggestions of leather, damp soil, and garrigue. The medium-bodied palate is firm and grainy-textured with bags of freshness lifting the earth-laced fruit to a nice long finish. Tasted blind with the Southwold Group in London in February 2024.

The wine is concentrated with tannins that come from both the firm fruit and the wood aging. It is packed with blackberry flavors that come through the structure strongly. The velvet texture (that is just a hint at the moment) is going to bring out the richness of this wine produced with consultation from Michel Rolland. Drink from 2024.