Château Léoville-Poyferré, 2016 Update
As is also the case with one or two other châteaux featured in this year’s Bordeaux Quartet series, Château Léoville-Poyferré is one which has risen from a state of near-ignominy two or three decades ago to near-supremacy today. The terroir never changed, and the potential was always there, it just took a new pair of eyes to recognise it all, and a new injection of enthusiasm to push forward the measures required to raise quality to the levels seen at neighbouring châteaux, most pertinently Château Léoville-Barton and Château Léoville-Las-Cases.
In this particular case both eyes and enthusiasm were provided by the current proprietor, Didier Cuvelier. It is he that has overseen the renaissance of Château Léoville-Poyferré, a process that has been ongoing since he took the reins here, as a young man, in 1979. With the support of other Cuvelier family members, a dedicated team, and consultant Michel Rolland working in the wings (a fact that surprises many people, especially those who like to bash the Rolland style while blithely casting adulations in the way of wines such as Léoville-Poyferré, or indeed any of the wines from the handful of other left-bank estates where Rolland deigns to advise), Cuvelier has catapulted this estate to join the most highly ranged estates of the left bank.
Four Vintages, 2015 – 2012
This tasting was a little different from my other quartets, in that not only did I have four vintages of the grand vin to taste, but also three corresponding vintages of the second wine, Pavillon de Léoville-Poyferré. The only grand vin vintage without a second-wine companion was 2015, so I will look at this vintage first. Although as a rule 2015 on the Médoc is not broadly any better than 2014, except perhaps in St Estèphe where 2014 seems to me to be superior, at Château Léoville-Poyferré 2015 looks as though it may turn out to be the better wine, even if by just a whisker.
