Tasting Notes
Vinous 92
The 2000 Leoville Poyferre has a lovely bouquet of brambly red berry fruit, orange peel, sandalwood, ash and a touch of peppermint. Maybe there is just a tiny smidgen of brettanomyces. The palate is medium-bodied and approaching full maturity, with grainy tannins, meat juices, sage, thyme and light white peppery notes surfacing with aeration. There is a straightforwardness to this Saint-Julien that I like, and it has the substance and balance to give another 20 years of drinking pleasure.
Anticipated maturity: 2021-2040
Robert Parker 97
The plushest, most ostentatious and dramatic of all the Leovilles in 2000, this wine is already sumptuous, displaying some nuances in its huge nose of vanilla bean, black chocolate, jammy black cherries, cassis, and graphite in a flamboyant style. Opulent, savory, rich, and full-bodied, it is a head-turning, prodigious wine and a complete contrast to the extracted behemoth of Leoville Barton and the backward, classic Leoville Las Cases. The Poyferre’s low acidity, sweet tannin and an already gorgeous mouthfeel make it a wine to drink now as well as over the next 25 or more years.
Anticipated maturity: 2010-2035
JancisRobinson.com 18
Intensely sweet and distinctive nose. Intense ripeness but still fresh black fruit. Wonderful balance of dense fruit, rich, aromatic mid palate. Already very complex but a lot more to come. Compact and now velvety but still some grip there. Seductive and exotic. (JH)
Anticipated maturity: 2009-2030
