Every bit as good as the 2009, and I think better than the 2010 and 2016, the 2018 Château Léoville Poyferré is a total thrill that tops out my scale. Based on 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, its dense purple hue is followed by an incredible, full-bodied monster of a wine that, despite massive amounts of fruit, tannins, and extract, still stays weightless and ethereal, with incredible purity. Loaded with notions of crème de cassis, spring flowers, tobacco, violets, charcoal, and cedar pencil, it's extraordinarily concentrated, flawlessly balanced, and has a finish that won't quit. This is a legendary wine in the making. Give bottles 7-8 years, a decade would be even better, and it will keep for 40-50 years. Hats off to the Cuvelier family for another extraordinary wine!

Dark cherry, plum, spice and cacao with earthy notes and wood undertones. Cloves, too. Full-bodied, yet in control and poised. Balanced, complex and flavorful. Firm tannins and a long, precise finish. It goes on and on. Structured is the word. Try after 2025.

Smoke, licorice, espresso, spice, blackberry and roasted currants create the intoxicating perfume. Full-bodied, lush, rich and supple, with velvet drenched tannins, and a big mouthful of coffee bean, dark chocolate, black cherry and tobacco leaf, this is going to be just great. Patience is needed as the wine. If you are not yet a fan and this style is your thing, one taste is all you need to get hooked! The wine blends 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 32% Petit Verdot, 14.4% ABV. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/search-wine-tasting-notes/?szSearch=2018+Leovill

A blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc, aged in 80% new oak barriques, the 2018 Léoville Poyferré comes bounding out of the glass with exuberant scents of Morello cherries, plum preserves and blackberry pie, giving way to nuances of cedar chest, unsmoked cigars, vanilla pod and sassafras, plus a waft of crushed rocks. The palate is full-bodied, rich and decadent, delivering hedonic black fruits and lots of spicy accents with a velvety texture and seamless freshness, finishing long and satisfyingly savory. This is a very impressive showing that is delicious out of the gate but has the backbone to give a good 30 years or more of pleasure. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

Waves of warmed cassis, mocha and warm tar aromas lead the way, while the core of macerated plum, blackberry and blueberry fruit waits its turn, showing admirable breadth and depth when it arrives, with roasted apple wood, bramble and cast iron buried deeply through the finish. This is a powerfully rendered wine with a cashmere scarf as accent. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2024 through 2040. – JM

Gorgeously rich, heady and seductive nose, really expressive - you can sense the concentration in the rich blackcurrant aromas, soft hints of bramble bush, perfume and super soft spicing. Exuberant but with such clarity on the palate - clear power there, richly juicy and mouth filling - tannins are present but soft, they have texture and do grip the tongue but the overall feel is so well balanced and textured. Lovely weight in the mouth with cherry and blackcurrant flavours, some menthol, liquorice tones giving freshness and a cooling touch as well as a soft minerality that comes across as wet stone nuance on the tongue. A gentle spice also runs through the wine, grilled cedar and cinnamon but it also has such a lively juicy quality with tension and concentration. Incredible. Give this at least 10 years before enjoying. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. Harvest 20 September-12 October. Drinking Window: 2028 - 2049

Concentrated but luscious, has so much character and depth to the fruit, a ton of liqourice, chocolate, blackberry. Smoke and grilled herbs, clear rosemary, tumeric even on the nose. There is higher alcohol than in some vintages, and it leaves a trace, even if a faint one. It needs time - for sure a good decade to really open. Harvest September 20 to October 12. Last tasted November 2020, same score. 80% new oak. First vintage under Sara Lecompte-Cuvelier.

(96+ points) The 2018 Leoville Poyferré, from a great and powerful vintage, provides a great deal of resistance. It has a massive fruit driven body with lots of sweet ripe strawberries and a viscosity you rarely find. It is still way too young but the potential, accuracy and freshness of this wine is ever so promising for the future. Wait another 5 years before pulling the cork. - Ivar Bjurner

Composed of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, and 3% Cabernet Franc, the 2018 Léoville Poyferré was aged in 80% new oak barriques. Deep garnet‑purple in color, it offers notes of crème de cassis, plum preserves, and melted chocolate, giving way to hints of Chinese five spice and potpourri. The full‑bodied palate is rich and powerful, delivering mouth‑coating black‑fruit preserve layers offset by ample freshness, finishing long and opulent. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

The 2018 Léoville-Poyferré performs similarly to the bottle tasted a few weeks earlier in the UK for my in-bottle round-up, although here I sense more opulence on the nose, perhaps more florality. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe tannins, broad and sensual, plummy with that beguiling symmetry on the finish. It needs several years in bottle but it will be well worth the wait. Tasted at the Léoville-Poyferré vertical at the château with Sara Lecompte Cuvelier. -- Neal Martin