Chateau Leoville Poyferre 2eme Cru Classe, Saint-Julien 2024

Blackcurrants, milk chocolate, raspberry and red cherry. Sleek and smooth, instantly silky and just so welcoming on the palate. This has concentration but with an almost sweet acidity, pure fruit and powdery tannins. It’s certainly not lacking in power, with a generous mouthfeel that’s really balanced between push, fun, fruitiness, acidity and tannins. A great Poyferré and success for the vintage. It doesn't shout, but it’s super enjoyable. Classy and chewy and fleshy while still having elegance. I love this. One of the few estates to use reverse osmosis to keep concentration. 1% Petit Verdot completes the blend. Ageing 80% new oak. 3.71pH. Tasted three times.

Impressive texture, slate wrapped in silky tannins, with real depth of flavour, black cherry and damson fruit, no dip through the mid palate, and a long finish. Maintains estate signature, shows generosity and confidence, one of the wines of the vintage. Alix Combe vineyard director, Isabelle David oenologist. Harvest 24 September to 10 October. 3.71 pH. 26.42 hl/ha.

A bit closed and almost steely at the moment. At the same time, there is depth and huge structure, showing black cherries, mulberries, fine spices and violets. Full-bodied, this has heaps of very small-grained, dusty tannins on the palate and a long finish. A concentrated wine. Wait and see.

Looking at the Grand Vin, the 2024 Château Léoville Poyferré is based on 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It shows deep purple hues and classic notes of cassis, lead pencil, graphite, crushed stone, and violets. Pure, polished, and elegant on the palate, it has perfectly ripe tannins and plays in the forward, charming style of the vintage while still delivering plenty of depth and richness. It's aging in 80% new French oak for 18 to 20 months.

Deep garnet-purple in color. Needs a little swirling to coax out notes of fresh black and red currants and pencil shavings, giving way to nuances of iris, black olives, and damp soil. The light to medium-bodied palate delivers a sturdy structure of firm, grainy tannins and plenty of freshness to match the muscular black and red fruit flavors, finishing with good length if a little grippy.

The 2024 Léoville-Poyferré was picked from September 24 to October 10 at 26.42 hl/ha. There was some reverse osmosis on the Merlot and Cabernet Franc varieties. Quasi-Pauillac in style, it offers quite backward black fruit, hints of melted tar and graphite on the nose. The palate is medium-bodied and quite succulent with fleshy ripe tannins, tobacco-laced black fruit, brown spices and light undergrowth. With a fine supple landing on the finish in typical "LP" fashion, this constitutes a delicious, early-drinking Poyferré that will be more approachable than other vintages.

Offering up aromas of jammy berries and toasty oak, the 2024 Léoville Poyferré is a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. Medium-bodied, dense and blocky, it's firm, tannic and chewy, with some green characteristics vying with its creamy patina of new wood. Harvest took place between 24 September and 10 October, and some lots saw some reverse osmosis.

The 2024 Léoville-Poyferré offers notable brightness to match its mid-weight personality. Floral and spice notes open into a core of dark red- and black-toned fruit. Medium in body, with good persistence, the 2024 is an understated Léoville-Poyferré. Today, it feels a bit compact, which also attenuates the fruit to some degree.