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Léoville Poyferré 1990

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Julien
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyCabernet Sauvignon/Merlot
Also available in the following mixed case:

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Léoville Poyferré

Label

Tasting Notes

Absolutely spectacular, the 1990 Leoville Poyferre is much more evolved than either of its two Leoville neighbors. Its opaque plum/garnet color is accompanied by a gorgeous bouquet of smoke, charcoal, creme de cassis, and flowers. Fleshy and opulent, it comes across like a St.-Julien with a Pomerol texture and allure. This beauty has reached full maturity where it should remain for another two decades.

97
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (183), June 2009
15.5
Group Tasting, Blind 1990 Tasting, September 2000
96
Robert Parker, Bordeaux Book (4), December 2003
96
Robert Parker, Bordeaux Book (3), November 1998

An absolute must purchase, and probably still a reasonable bargain, is Leoville-Poyferre's 1990. I rated this wine highly in pre-cask tastings, and followed that with an enthusiastic review in Issue #85 (2-28-93) (rating it 92). Since then I have had the wine three times, each time providing persuasive evidence that this is indeed a great Leoville-Poyferre. The two best Poyferres of recent decades have been the 1982 and 1983, but I am beginning to think the 1990 is superior. The wine exhibits a profoundly deep, opaque ruby/purple color, a fabulous nose of jammy, sweet, cassis fruit intertwined with scents of minerals and toasty oak. Still youthful and full-bodied, with low acidity, high tannin, and fabulous extract and purity, this is an awesomely-endowed Leoville-Poyferre that is just beginning to evolve. It requires another decade of cellaring, and it should last 30+ years. Admittedly, I gave it top marks early on, but it is even a greater wine than I had envisioned. To the extent that stocks still exist (I saw prices in the $350-$425 a case range in December, 1996), this is a must purchase.

96
Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (109), February 1997
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.