The flagship 2019 Château Léoville Poyferré is based on 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, and the balance Petit Verdot. It's one of the bigger, richer wines in the vintage and has a gorgeous, thrilling, full-bodied style as well as notes of crème de cassis, tobacco leaf, violets, and chocolate. While many estates seem to be playing it safe and focusing on so-called elegance and balance, I love that Poyferré continues to make a ripe, sexy, beautifully textured wine that always offers more opulence and sexiness than most in the vintage. Ranking with the crème de la crème of the vintage, this gorgeous Poyferré can be enjoyed any time over the coming 40-50 years. Bravo!

The 2019 Léoville Poyferré is composed of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet‑purple in color, it gallops out of the glass with energetic notes of blackcurrant jelly, candied violets, licorice, and juicy black plums, leading to nuances of rose oil, dark chocolate, and Chinese five spice. The medium‑ to full‑bodied palate is generous and juicy, with great tension and a velvety texture, finishing with a flourish of persistent exotic spice notes. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown

This is big-shouldered, with plenty of sculpted, carefully-extracted tannins. Layer upon layer of savoury and mouthwatering cassis and bilberry fruits, showing their creamy texture only once things relax in the glass. Teasingly gourmet notes of liquorice, black chocolate, slate and charcoal play alongside the fruit. This is a seriously impressive Poyferré, where the drama builds slowly and promises a long life ahead. Juicy on the finish. Harvest September 22 to October 11. 80% new oak. The 100th vintage for Léoville Poyferré under the Cuvelier family. Tasted blind (along with the rest of the St Juliens) and it stood out as exceptionally good quality.

One of the top vintages of Leoville Poyferre, the wine sports a beautiful dark color in the glass. The showy nose opens with black and red fruits, espresso, cocoa, tobacco leaf, smoke and floral aromas. On the palate is there the wine shines with its multiple layers of sensuously textured, deep, ripe, dark red fruits, plush, polished tannins and its multi-layered, lusciously-textured, long, vibrant finish. This will age and evolve for decades with little trouble. Drink from 2027-2055.

3% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc add extra subtlety to this classy St-Julien. On the nose there are pronounced exotic characters with Asian spice and cedar wood, combining with plump dark plum fruit and juicy blackberry. More sweetness evident on the palate than many other Haut-Médoc wines, with a mouthfeel that has great balance and purity. Will drink well at a (relatively) young age.

The 2019 Léoville Poyferré is showing very well in bottle, wafting from the glass with aromas of crème de cassis and wild berries mingled with notions of licorice, loamy soil, cigar wrapper and smoke. Full-bodied, velvety and polished, it's broad and enveloping, with an ample core of fruit, ripe tannins and succulent acids, concluding with a long, precise finish. Invariably the most sumptuous of the three Léovilles, featuring some 35% Merlot, the 2019 is a terrific effort that will offer a wide drinking window. - William Kelley

The 2019 Leoville Poyferre is composed of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it charges out of the glass with bold notions of baked black plums and boysenberry preserves leading to notions of cassis, cedar chest, and menthol. The medium to full-bodied palate is light on its feet, with nuanced black fruits and plush tannins, finishing long with a skip in its step.

The 2019 Léoville Poyferré is cut from the same cloth as the Ducru Beaucaillou, though without delivering quite the same panache. There is richness here, but it is contained at the moment. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins. Velvety smooth in texture, there is real finesse that becomes more apparent towards the finish that displays exquisite balance and wonderful length. The kind of wine that begs the response: more please. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. -- Neal Martin

Throws off some seriously gorgeous warmed plum, blueberry reduction and açaí berry compote aromas and flavors, laced with ganache and sweet tobacco from start to finish. Delivers ample structure in the guise of a cold cast iron note buried underneath the showy fruit, with a flash of violet for treble in the background. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2025 through 2040. — J.M.