1990 Château Léoville-Poyferré
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Tasting notes
The 1990 Léoville Poyferré is a vintage I have tasted several times, but wow, this knocked the ball out of the park. Stunning aromatics with vivacious black and red fruit, sage and cedar and light rolled tobacco notes that surface with aeration. Real poise and elegance. The palate is medium-bodied with impressive delineation and depth, lightly spiced with a pinch of white pepper towards the finish that exerts gentle grip. This far exceeds my expectations and trumps the “other Léoville” in blind conditions. Tasted single blind at the 1990 Bordeaux dinner at Medlar.
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Wine Spectator
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
A good, although not perfect bottle, the 1990 Château Léoville Poyferré is ruby-hued with just light bricking at the rim. It has a perfumed, complex style in its leafy herb, tobacco, truffly earth, and sappy flower and tea-like aromatics, and it's resolved, medium to full-bodied, and elegant on the palate, with a gorgeous finish. A touch of underlying earthiness to this bottle kept the score down slightly, but this is nevertheless a fully mature, elegant, beautiful Saint-Julien to enjoy over the coming decade.
The 1990 Léoville-Poyferré is a wine that I have drunk on several occasions over the years. This ex-château example has a slightly rustic nose, maybe with a touch of VA, though the aromatics are stuffed with so much fruit that you cannot help but fall for its charms. Touches of mint and melted dark chocolate emerge with time. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, impressive depth, nothing like the finesse of more recent vintages yet with satisfying depth and grip. Perhaps the summer warmth impedes more than the 1989 that I feel has more sophistication, yet this is still a thoroughly pleasurable Saint-Julien. Tasted at Saint-Julien restaurant.
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.