1982 Leoville Poyferre
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
The 1982 Léoville Poyferré has trumped Las-Cases in previous blind tastings. This is another great Saint-Julien that has stood the test of time, the vintage that really announced Didier Cuvelier and a resurgent château. It has a mixture of red and black fruit, hints of aniseed percolating through with time, all delivered with superb delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with finely honed tannins and a silver thread of acidity. This is one of the more elegant Poyferrés, abraded masterfully by passing time, with just a subtle bitterness on the finish. Divine. Tasted single blind at the 1982 dinner at Cornus in London.
Critic scores
Average Score
Wine Spectator
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
An absolute joy to drink, and a wine I’ve been lucky enough to have multiple times recently, the 1982 Château Léoville Poyferré is fully mature and has a classic, graceful, nuanced perfume of sweet red and black currants, woodsmoke, tobacco leaf, baking spices, and hints of cedar. With medium to full-bodied richness on the palate, it’s beautifully balanced and has ripe, polished tannins, a solid spine of acidity, and a great finish. It’s clearly fully mature, and I don’t see much upside here, but I have no doubt it will evolve gracefully over the coming decade. It’s a beautiful Léoville Poyferré. This bottle was opened, decanted, and followed over the course of an evening.
The 1982 Léoville Poyferré is a vintage that I have not seen for a while. This bottle is splendid. It is Ferrous on the nose and offers wilted rose petals, asphalt and pencil shavings, now firmly into its secondary aromatic phase yet maintaining impressive delineation and freshness. Maybe a little rustic compared to recent vintages, yet charming. The palate is very well balanced, and there is a touch of Brettanomyces that would be understandable given the warmth of the growing season. Cedar and graphite flourish toward the finish. This is at a peak now, and as I averred before, I would drink these sooner unless you have larger formats on your hands. Tasted at Burns & German's dinner to celebrate The Complete Bordeaux Vintage Guide book at Medlar.
About the producer
Ch. Léoville-Poyferré is a Second Growth Saint-Julien property that was once part of the same estate as Ch. Léoville Barton and Ch. Léoville Las Cases. It has the most complex and varied soils of the three and produces the most voluptuous, seductive style of wine.