Château Léoville Poyferré 2010

Features a coating of warm cocoa, with notes of solid currant paste, steeped fig and blackberry fruit. The pastis- and graphite-filled finish pumps along, revealing a well-embedded structure that should soften in the cellar. Best from 2015 through 2030. 17,833 cases made.

A wine of architectural strength and classical proportions, this has straight lines that mark the packed, concentrated fruits, which are sustained by its tannins. This is certainly the best wine that Léoville-Poyferré has produced, sumptuous while so finely structured.

Intense fruit, perfumed elements with strong wood notes. It's confident and a bit of a show-off, but the fruit and plush tannic chewiness are at the fore, so it avoids overt minerality or leanness, unlike many in the tasting. Has weight and vigour but with freshness and mass appeal. Not so refined, but not harsh either. Cool blueberries and graphite, liquorice elements. Different style to many.

Opulent aromas of blackberry, black cherry and orange peel follow through to a full body with round, creamy tannins and a flavorful finish. A big, significant wine that is starting to open and come around. A long life ahead of it. Drink or hold.

Really opulent – concentrated and ripe and expressive. Shows off the vintage: pure, pixel-perfect fruit. As such, it has a sort of sheen that could almost use a bit of roughing around the edges, but it remains an immaculate example of the left bank in 2010. (RH)

The 2010 Léoville-Poyferré takes the 2009 and ups the ante with brilliantly defined, intense black fruit. Perhaps it is just a little more "serious" compared to the previous vintage, but is finely chiseled and displaying more mineralité. The palate has mellowed since I last tasted it, developing more rondeur and a more caressing texture. Extremely pure in style, this fans out wonderful, fills the mouth and lingers for a minute. One of the highlights of Didier Cuvelier’s career, this has a long future ahead. "LP" just does not get better than this. Tasted at the Léoville-Poyferré vertical at the château with Sara Lecompte Cuvelier.

Deeply colored, the wine is rich, long, deep, and concentrated. There is a fresh, spicy edge to the black and dark red fruits with lift, purity, and structure balance. The tannins are ripe but powerful, and present. But it is the wealth of sweet, ripe, fresh fruits that you notice the most as they coat and linger on your palate. Give this a bit more time in the cellar before pulling a cork, allowing the wine to soften, fill out and develop more secondary nuances. Drink from 2028-2055.

Deep dark ruby, opaque core, purple reflections. Fine oak savouriness on the nose, adorned with sweet dark berry fruit, delicate nougat and liquorice, a hint of candied orange zest. Full-bodied, intense blackberry fruit, firm tannins that are well integrated, dark minerality, chocolate nuances on the finish, taut and youthful, still somewhat unapproachable at the moment, but with good sweetness. A great promise for the future.

Very dark and inky colour. Fine oak on the nose, roasted coffee, blackcurrant, dark plum, spices and tobacco. The palate is really dense and full but with soft extraction and excellent quality of tannin, persistent and lingering with attractive, juicy dark plum, blackcurrant, leather, tobacco and fine spices; very long finish; superb potential.

Pure gold: the 2010 Château Léoville Poyferré, tasted alongside a perfect 2009 Latour, offers everything you could want from a wine. With its deep purple hue and an incredible array of crème de cassis, graphite, damp earth, leafy tobacco and beautifully integrated oak, it hits the palate with an astonishing amount of fruit and opulence while always remaining pure, precise and as seamless as they come. It shows the density and power of the 2010 vintage, yet it is remarkable for its balance, purity and length. Like most 2010s today, it is still youthful and clearly at the beginning of its drinking plateau, with another 40–50 years of prime drinking ahead of it.

% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc. Extremely dark purple. Gigantic bouquet of coconut, blackcurrant, lilac and a hint of amarena, with a very warm, ripe Cabernet expression. Dense palate with lots of flesh and power, quite fresh on the fruit, lavishly blackcurrant and ripe cherry, with an intoxicating finish. A knockout wine, and surely the best Poyferré barrel sample of my life! If the budget allows, it should be right at the top of the shopping list!

61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc. Extremely dark purple with lilac and violet highlights. Gigantic bouquet: coconut, blackcurrant, lilac and a hint of amarena; a very warm, ripe Cabernet expression. Dense palate, showing plenty of flesh and power; the fruit feels quite fresh here, again with lavish amounts of blackcurrant suggesting ripe cherries within, finishing like a drug. I have rated other vintages 19/20 at the en primeur stage—2000 and 2009, for example. But this is clearly the best Poyferré barrel sample of my life! Tasted at the estate and then again at the Union des Grands Crus. A blockbuster wine!!! If the budget allows, this mammoth Saint-Julien MUST be on the shopping list! 11: Tasted at the estate in autumn with Didier Cuvellier. A crazy package, it has refined slightly without losing any power. (19/20). 12: Extremely dark garnet with a violet sheen. Profound bouquet with lots of Cabernet sweetness, dark toasty notes, with a touch of vanillin and seductive coconut hovering above. The barrels are still clearly present in this youthful aromatic profile. On the palate, surprisingly elegant for a Poyferre, which often flexes a lot of muscle in its first phase; it already comes across almost conciliatory and gently mild, which speaks to extraordinary class. Never has such a great wine from this usually rather burly Saint-Julien been so finely woven. Perhaps that’s why I slightly underestimated it early on. It now deserves an extra point, catapulting it into the 2010 elite. (19/20). 17: Rich, extremely dark purple with black reflections in the core. Unconventional bouquet, slightly gluey in feel; on the one hand it shows plenty of minerality, but also subtly stewed-fruit notes, the faintest traces of plum jam, fig tones and dried fruit. Firm and very demanding on the palate, still showing lots of astringent tannins. It needs a great deal more bottle age and will still show some tannic claws even in 20 years. The score reflects overall potential. The barrel samples were at 19/20. At the moment it is shut down at 18/20. I think it will reach its first promise again from around 2025. Therefore: 19/20.

A focused, velvety, powerful bouquet: cassis cream, mint, fine eucalyptus notes, mocha, liquorice, cedar, plum and coconut. Powerful, dense, full-bodied, layered and aromatic on the palate, with lots of fine tannin, a concentrated structure and superb dark aromatics. Very long, creamy finish with many sweet lingering flavours. Can improve further. 19/20 2022 - 2050

Deep colour, luscious and powerful, has the push and pull of a truly great wine, where you are not exactly sure where you will land but you are fully along for the ride. Brilliant quality, precision, smoke, liquorice, cigar box, cassis, mint leaf etching, rippled with muscle, more Pauillac than St Julien in the 2010 vintage, with decades ahead of it. Great stuff, easily one of the wines of the tasting. 80% new oak. Harvest October 1 to 18.

Medium to deep garnet-brick in color, the 2010 Leoville Poyferre is a little closed and broody to start, soon unfurling to offer glimpses at blackcurrant preserves, chocolate-covered cherries, and dried mulberries, plus wafts of tobacco, pencil lead, and smoked meats. Medium-bodied, the palate has a rock-solid frame of chewy tannins and oodles of freshness supporting the muscular fruit, finishing long and earthy.

A generous attack, a supple mid-palate, plenty of charm, medium length, a slight firmness but lots of depth, and a lovely spicy finish.

The energy and charm of Léoville Poyferré are evident from the very first moment! Sweet spices in the bouquet, combined with classic notes of graphite and chocolate, point to great promise. The energy is also apparent on the attack, thanks to the vibrancy of the acidic framework, which brings character and a bright future. Perfectly integrated, the tannins emerge on the finish, underscoring the ageing potential of this 2010. Highly convincing overall, the wine shows that it hasn’t yet reached its full potential, but it has all the resources it needs to get there!

The nose is fresh and powerful, with fine-grained texture and a certain straightness. It reveals notes of blackcurrant, blueberry and, more subtly, fleshy raspberry, alongside touches of small black fruits, with delicate hints of flint, camphor, pepper, and cocoa/tonka bean. The palate is fruity, offering juiciness, smoothness, deliciousness and generous freshness, with lovely acidity, tension, straightness and a pleasing finesse in the guideline. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of fleshy/juicy raspberry, tangy/juicy plum and, more lightly, crushed redcurrant, combined with hints of lilac, cornflower, nutmeg and camphor, delicate touches of cocoa and coffee, as well as a hint of cornflower and sweet spices. The tannins are precise and finely mellow.

Logo on the cork: A in a circle (Amorim) Faulty bottle Tasted blind, not decanted. Deep, slightly evolved color. Superb nose—intense and subtle—with ripe fruit. Soft on the attack, juicy and present on the mid-palate, very flavorful with spicy nuances; unfortunately, the wine turns too harsh on the finish. Faulty bottle?