Bordeaux, Bottle Notes

1996 Léoville-Poyferré – Bottle Notes

The 1996 Léoville-Poyferré was the winning bottle in the August installment of Pick My Next Bottle. The wine was decanted for an hour and served with Beef Stew.

Château Léoville-Poyferré is in St.-Julien. The estate is a Second Growth Bordeaux. Along with Léoville-Las-Cases and Léoville-Barton, Léoville-Poyferré was part of a large estate in the Medoc owned by the Marquis de Léoville. After the French revolution the estate was divided and sold at public auction, where the portion that is now Château Léoville-Poyferré was bought by Monsieur Poyferré. Today the estate is owned and run by Didier Cuvelier and his family.

Blood red in color with some bricking at the edge of the glass. 13% ABV. Great nose of cigar box, cedar and leather. Medium body with a sense of power that belies the 19 years of bottle age. Flavors of currants, cassis, cherries, graphite and earth. The wine finishes strong and still shows some complex tannins. This vintage of Léoville-Poyferré is showing really well right now but well stored bottles should continue to develop for another 3-5 years.

My rating: 94 points.

Léoville-Poyferré is on a roll as of late. The 2009 and 2010 scored 100 points and 98 points respectively from the Wine Advocate. If you are interested in purchasing the wine I would suggest futures of the 2014 vintage which is compellingly priced at right around $60.

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1 thought on “1996 Léoville-Poyferré – Bottle Notes

  1. Nice review, Tom! I like how you included some history about the estate. Good to see that compelling wines consistently come out of Saint-Julien regardless the vintage. Cheers!

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