Château Léoville Poyferré

An extremely captivating Poyferré this year. Beautiful vivid and vibrant colour in the glass with soft rose and violets on the nose. Juicy and alive, immediately so charming, chewy, fleshy but cool and stony. Mouthfilling with licks of liquorice, tobacco, cola and hints of clove. I love the restraint on show – this is still a powerful wine but so much more relaxed than it could have been. Graceful yet impactful, full of ripe fruit with such a generous and happy attitude. I love it. Potential upscore in bottle. A yield of 20hl/ha, one of the smallest yields. Owner Sara spoke of lower fermentation temperatures, shorter macerations and shorter pumping-over to keep soft tannins. No deleafing, kept cover crops and used cold rooms to let grapes cool before optical sorting, especially for the more fragile Petit Verdot. Julien Viaud consultant. 5% Petit Verdot completes the blend. Drinking window: 2034-2050. (Georgina Hindle,decanter.com)