Léoville-Poyferré St-Julien 2020

98+ points Jeb Dunnuck: "The Grand Vin 2020 Château Léoville Poyferré, which is released in a stylish black bottle commemorating a century for the Cuvelier family, is reminiscent of the 2016 with its powerful, concentrated, yet vibrant and inward style. Pure crème de cassis, melted chocolate, loamy earth, graphite, and some spicy nuances all define the aromatics, and it's full-bodied, with a stacked mid-palate, nicely integrated oak, ripe tannins, and one hell of a great finish. This is another utterly brilliant wine from this team, which has been producing First Growth quality wines for many years now. The blend of the 2020 is 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, aged in 80% new barrels, hitting 13.58% natural alcohol and a pH of 3.81. It will benefit from just 5-7 years of bottle age and will evolve for 50 years or more if well stored. Bravo. Tasted multiple times with consistent results. Drink: 2028-2078. (3/29/23)"

97+ points Lisa Perrotti-Brown (The Wine Independent): "The 2020 Leoville Poyferre is deep purple-black in color. Gregarious scents of redcurrant jelly, kirsch, and warm cassis prance out of the glass, leading to subtle nuances of wild sage, graphite, damp soil, and crushed rocks, before giving glimpses of a gorgeous underlying perfume of lilacs, lavender, and cinnamon stick. The fantastically vivacious, medium-bodied palate vibrates with amazing energy, delivering crunchy red and black fruit layers, framed by firm, fine-grained tannins and a racy backbone, finishing long and perfumed. Exquisitely graceful with a natural beauty, this is a real head-turner! Alcohol 13.5%. Drink: 2028-2055. (12/13/23)"

97 points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "The 2020 Léoville-Poyferré is every bit as impressive as it was from barrel. If anything, it has gained in freshness and vibrancy with élevage. Dark cherry, plum, mocha, graphite and a kiss of French oak are some of the many notes that infuse the 2020 with tons of character. I especially admire its vertical energy and buttoned up personality. In some recent vintages Léoville-Poyferré has been quite showy, but the 2020 also has a more nuanced side that is hugely appealing. Drink: 2028-2050. (Feb 2023)"

97 points Jane Anson: "(64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot). Excellent quality, head and shoulders above most of the vintage even in St Julien. Blackberry, black truffle, damson, liqourice, crayon and crushed rocks throughout. Great stuff. Harvest September 14 to 30, 35hl/h yield, 3.8ph. Consultant Michel Rolland, winemaker Isabelle Davin, 80% new oak. A speical bottle as this vintage marks 100 years with the Cuvelier family. Alcohol 13.5%. Drink: 2030-2048. (1/7/23)"

97 points Neal Martin (Vinous): "The 2020 Léoville Poyferré is quite backward on the nose, gradually unfurling with aeration to reveal introspective black fruit, licorice and touches of bay leaf. Returning after 20 minutes the aromatics develop life-affirming pixelation. The palate is medium-bodied with fine delineation—very pure and silky in terms of texture. This is lavished in some high-quality new oak, but there is plenty of fruit underneath. It will take several years to fully cohere, but it should be worth waiting for. This is stunning. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. Drink: 2030-2062. (Nov 2024)"

97 points Jeff Leve (The Wine Cellar Insider): "Even better in the beautiful, black and gold bottle celebrating 100 years of ownership, than it was from the barrel, the wine instantly grabs your attention with its dark color and its equally dark-fruited profile centered on its core of blackberries, black cherries, black plums, spices, espresso, and dark chocolate. The wine is deep, rich, concentrated, and lush, as well as fresh, silky, vibrant, long, and focused. The finish leaves you with layers of sweet, ripe, black and blue fruit, chocolate, espresso, and a touch of spice that comes in at the end of the silky finish. The wine blends 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Drink from 2026-2055. (Mar 2023)"

96 points Georgina Hindle (Decanter): "Supple and generous with mouthwatering acidity, though really quite tannic at this point which does cover up some of the nuance. I like the texture, the frame and the weight, it's clean, polished and well worked, not overdone at all, but this has a sense of potent seduction in the flavours, rich blackcurrant, perfumed and scented. Detailed with lots of stony, slate, and wet stone elements giving a wonderful terroir influence. It's not as immediately charming as the 2019, the tension still prominent, but this will be brilliant in 5-10 years. Drinking Window: 2029-2042. (Jan 2023)"

96 points Chris Kissack (Winedoctor): "With the 2020 vintage the Cuvelier family celebrate one hundred years in charge of this estate, with a wine which is “faithful to the style of the great wines of Léoville-Poyferré”, says Sara Lecompte Cuvelier. The aromatics are dark, expressive and spiced, with layers of sweet dark plum, toast and crushed limestone. The palate is very fresh, cool, rich, dark and spiced, the dark and savoury fruit underpinned by a bedrock of rich and dense tannins. This tannic grip really dominates only in the finish though, the length grippy yet also perfumed. A quite brilliant and rather seductive composition here, rich in dark and rather plush fruit, but also in grip and tannic structure. A rather showy expression of the St Julien appellation, but one which will develop very well I suspect. Tasted twice, in London and Bordeaux. The alcohol declared on the label is 13.5%. (Dec 2022)"

96 points James Suckling: "This is really floral on the nose with violets and roses, and some black berries and dark cherries. It’s medium- to full-bodied with firm and polished tannins, and plenty of hazelnut and milk chocolate. Structured, yet so finely textured. So attractive and enticing now but needs three or four years to show what it has. Try after 2026. (12/28/22)"

96 points Peter Moser (Falstaff): "Dark garnet, purple reflections, deep core, ochre brightening on the rim. Delicate cassis nuances in the background with vanilla and liquorice, black forest berries, notes of fine oak, candied orange zest. A substantial, elegant and complex palate with fine expression of ripe cherries, supporting tannins, subtle nougat. Mineral with good freshness and length, well balanced, has certain ageing potential. (2/22/23)"