Chateau Leoville Poyferre 2012

Professional Ratings

• 96 Wine Enthusiast
  94–96. Barrel sample. This very ripe, full-bodied wine is powered by sweet blackberries and solid tannins. It is a full, concentrated and complex wine that has a great future.
  Barrel Sample: 94-96 Points
• 94 James Suckling

  Really beautiful now with blackcurrant, licorice and red-berry aromas, following through to a full body with layers of fine tannins and a beautiful finish. It’s really starting to drink nicely . Drink or hold.

• 94 Jeb Dunnuck
  One of the more stacked, ripe and rockingly textured wines from the left bank, the 2012 Léoville Poyferré sports a deep ruby/purple color to go with terrific notes of crème de cassis, graphite, lead pencil shavings and violets. Rich, full-bodied, supple and forward, with low acidity and ripe tannin, give bottles 4-5 years (although it dishes out ample pleasure even today) and enjoy through 2037.
• 92 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  Owned by the Cuvelier family since 1920, this property over the last 20 years has made some great wines in the Médoc. The 2012, a blend of 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc, is opaque purple, thick-looking, and from bottle much more impressive than it was from barrel. This very extracted, rich, full-bodied, masculine Léoville Poyferré needs a good 5-8 years of bottle age and should evolve well for at least 20-25 years. Loads of blackberry and cassis, crushed rock and graphite notes are present in this medium to full-bodied, impressively concentrated and pure wine. Forget it for a while, as this is one of the bigger, richer Médocs.
  Rating: 92+
• 91 Wine Spectator
  A solid, muscular version, with a slightly chewy feel along the edges, while the core of steeped plum, anise and blackberry paste waits in reserve. Reveals ample graphite details on the finish, with a warm fruitcake note chiming in. Just needs some cellaring to lose the burly edge. Best from 2017 through 2024.
• 90 Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
  The 2012 Château Léoville Poyferré shows up as a solid performer from this vintage of variance. The wine's ripe red and black fruit flavors are joined with some savory herbs and dried leaves. This true-to-type Saint-Julien drinks nicely now with a baked pork tenderloin. (Tasted: January 30, 2015, San Francisco, CA)