CHÂTEAU LÉOVILLE POYFERRÉ
2012 2ème Cru Classé Saint Julien
The 2012 Léoville-Poyferré has quite an atypical strict bouquet with blackberry, melted tar, graphite and crushed stone aromas. This opens very nicely in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy notes on the entry, fairly saline with good tension, superb backbone and density on the finish. This is very promising, but it may require more bottle age just to smooth out its edges. Tasted twice at Bordeaux Index's Ten Year-On tasting and blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting. Drinking range: 2024 - 2040 Rating: 92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Sept 2022)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
Poyferré keeps its generous spirit at 10 years old and has a lovely rich body with raspberry coulis, blackberry and density through the mid palate. The oak majors on grilled cedar and almond, a little dominant and closes things down on the close of play, not quite smoothed out yet suggesting that although you can begin drinking now, it will benefit from another few years in bottle. Harvest October 8 to 19. 80% new oak. Rating: 94 Jane Anson, www.janeanson.com (Mar 2022)
Really beautiful now with blackcurrant, licorice and red-berry aromas, following through to a full body with layers of fine tannins and a beautiful finish. It’s really starting to drink nicely . Drink or hold. Rating: 94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Mar 2021)
A dark, fleshy wine, the Léoville Poyferré 2012 is round, succulent and deeply expressive. Dark red cherry, plum, mocha, graphite and lavender are fused together in an effortless, silky Saint-Julien built on texture. Striking and totally beautiful, the 2012 will be ready to deliver its charms early. All the elements are in the right place. This is a gorgeous showing from Léoville-Poyferré. The 2012 is perhaps not an epic wine, but is gorgeous today and should provide considerable pleasure over the next 15-20 years. The blend is 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot. Rating: 94 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jan 2016)
Tasted twice with consistent notes, the Grand Vin is a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot (there is no Cabernet Franc unlike in 2011.) It was picked between 8th October and 19th October at 36hl/ha, when there was a torrential downpour and two plots were spoiled. The grapes were sorted on an Italian optical sorting machine. There is certainly impressive purity and intensity on the nose with ripe blackberry dark plum and touches of vanilla, a little more exotic than the 2011 this time last year. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe sweet tannins. It is typically relatively modern in style, quite opulent for a 2012 with a rounded, velvety finish with plush new oak (85%). Very fine. Rating: 91-93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2013)
Deep ruby. Subdued aromas of smoky blackberry and violet, along with a slightly raw herbal/peppery component. Then supple and round in the mouth, but with a diffuse quality to the dark berry and chocolate flavors. A wine of modest complexity, finishing with only average length and with slightly bitter tannins. Rating: 87-89 Ian d'Agata, www.vinousmedia.com (May 2013)
This wine seemed primary and not totally filled out or complete. No doubt it will put on some weight given the significant Merlot content in the final blend. There is a certain firmness, stiffness and lack of intensity on the mid-palate, and some tannins kick in in the finish. Nevertheless, there is more to this wine than first meets the palate. It is medium to full-bodied with an opaque color, good ripeness and some attractive weight, but is closed and hard. It needs time to pull itself together, and it should turn out to be an excellent, possibly outstanding effort Rating: 89-91 Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate, www.RobertParker.com (Apr 2013)
Dark purple. Some real energy hidden in this, not desperately expressive wine. Voluptuous on the palate. Gosh what a lot of effort has gone into this. Full marks for effort… Lots of lusciousness and then it's drawn to a dry close like someone tightening a purse string. Though I'd guess not too much purse-string tightening while making this… Appealing freshness. 2022 - 2038. Rating: 17.5 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2013)
Dense purple-red, well-concentrated ripeness, with 2012 greenness to be absorbed as it ages, good wine, good future. Drink: 2017 - 2030. Rating: 17.5 Steven Spurrier (Apr 2013)
Fascinating, kaleidoscopic palate with nearly 1/3 Merlot playing an intriguing role. Atypical & intriguing. Rating: 18 Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Apr 2013)
Solid, with good flesh around the core of plum and blackberry fruit. Shows ample dark toast and ganache notes, displaying chewy yet integrated grip. Rating: 90-93 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2013)
Château Léoville Poyferré
St Julien Deuxième cru 1855 When Baron Jean-Marie de Poyferré de Cères married the grand-daughter of the Marquis de Las-Cases-Beauvoir, he inherited a portion of the grand old Leoville estate. The Poyferré family owned the estate for long enough to see the granting of Second Growth status in common with the other Leovilles but, in time, oidium and financial difficulties led them to sell Leoville Poyferré. Eventually, it came in to the ownership of the Cuvelier family who own Poyferré to this day. For most of the 20th Century, compared to its namesake neighbours, Leoville Poyferré's fortunes waned as the quality of the wines fell back. Since 1980, however, considerable improvements have been made to the chais and the vineyards. The previously high proportion of Merlot has reduced, whilst the amount of Cabernet Sauvignon has risen to about 65% (Merlot is now a more Médoc-like 25%). Today, Leoville Poyferré can be seen on an equal footing with, at least, Leoville Barton. Grapes are fermented in stainless-steel, and then spend 18 to 20 months in oak (75% new). In the early years on the 20th Century, the cru bourgeois property of Château Moulin Riche was absorbed into Leoville Poyferré. The name was briefly resurrected as the name of Poyferré's second wine, although it is now produced as a wine in its own right from the vineyards of the old château. A second wine of both properties is Pavillon de Poyferré.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those of the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.
Ordering
Prices are per case as listed 'in bond London'.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment from you to buy the wines you order on release, subject to the price being below the upper price of the estimated band on our website. You may also set your own upper price limit, lower or higher than ours. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability. Providing this firm commitment to us effectively gives you priority.
Wines listed on the website (after any pre-orders and allocations have been fulfilled) can be ordered in the usual way via the website order form or by email or telephone 020 7221 1982, always subject to stock remaining.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date, apart from pre-orders which are binding if the release price is below the top estimate or other price you have set.
Invoices are raised at the In Bond price, excluding any duty and VAT which will become payable at the prevailing rates on arrival of the wine if required duty paid.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or credit transfer. We reserve the right to charge 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1000, orders below this total will be charged £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery for 2016 Bordeaux primeurs will probably be completed by October 2019, but we make no guarantee as to specific delivery times, and some of the Sauternes may be later.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes) for immediate payment. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option, but do please note that confirmed orders are still binding as above even if the final invoice has not been issued.
When the wine is shipped, unless previously specified we will assume that delivery is to be to bonded storage with Elephant Storage, but in any case, we will contact you requesting any alternative instructions. If you have another bonded delivery address you would like the wine to go to, please tell us at the time of ordering. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue invoices at the rates prevailing at the time for the excise duty (currently £25.98 per case) and the VAT (currently at 20%) on the total of the wine cost and the duty.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the bottle size you want. Even if a wine is only listed in one size, you can order any bottle or case size you want if the property supplies it, but you must order the case/bottle size you require and check that the correct size has been invoiced.
Additional charges are as follows:-
- +£15 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£15 per case of 6 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£35 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£45 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.