Chateau Leoville Poyferre 2000

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The plushest, most ostentatious and dramatic of all the Leovilles in 2000, this wine is already sumptuous, displaying some nuances in its huge nose of vanilla bean, black chocolate, jammy black cherries, cassis, and graphite in a flamboyant style. Opulent, savory, rich, and full-bodied, it is a head-turning, prodigious wine and a complete contrast to the extracted behemoth of Leoville Barton and the backward, classic Leoville Las Cases. The Poyferre’s low acidity, sweet tannin and an already gorgeous mouthfeel make it a wine to drink now as well as over the next 25 or more years."

JEB DUNNUCK: "Absolutely knockout stuff, the 2000 Léoville Poyferré is a sexy, layered, totally irresistible Bordeaux that’s firing on all cylinders today. Sporting a deep ruby/purple color and blockbuster notes of blackcurrants, lead pencil shavings, cedar and tobacco, this concentrated, powerful 2000 has a rounded, opulent texture, sweet tannin, and a huge finish. It’s a quintessential Poyferré and my only regret is I didn’t buy more. It’s going to keep for another two decades."

FALSTAFF: "Dunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, breitere Randaufhellung, Ockerreflexe. Dunkle Beerenfrucht, unterlegt mit Mokkaröstaromen, tabakige Nuancen, aber auch etwas Cassis und Brombeernoten, facettenreiches, attraktives Bukett. Stoffiger Körper, dunkle Beerenfrucht, feste, gut integrierte Tannine, finessenreicher Säurebogen, zeigt eine gute Extraktsüße und Länge, verfügt über sicheres Reifepotenzial."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Just beautiful. The wine has concentration, richness, elegance and layers of sweet dark, earthy, fresh, spicy fruits. There is a purity to the fruit and softness to the tannins that allows this to taste and feel great. Drink now with an hour of air, or age it another decade for more secondary charm."

WINE SPECTATOR: "Pure and focused, with some still-primal blueberry reduction and plum sauce flavors at first, moving to hints of black currant and fig paste. As this moves along, it shows more development, picking up bay, smoldering cigar and warm ganache notes through the finish. Rich and long, and just starting to hit its stride.--Blind 2000 Bordeaux retrospective (December 2015). Drink now through 2028. 20,000 cases made."

JAMES SUCKLING: "This has spices, meat, dark and ripe fruits, and a light sultana character. Full-bodied, tight and firm with a beautiful freshness and great length with notes of licorice and citrus skin. Fascinating stuff. Leave this alone for at least a couple of years. Should be better after 2012."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Mid crimson with a bit of evolution. Fragrant. Much less concentrated than the Barton but an attractive expression of the vintage and appellation. Dry overall and quite sinewy. You could start to drink this even though it is far from its apogee."

DECANTER: "This wine is clearly the product of an extremely generous and successful vintage. Even if the following year is where I might go for finesse and staying power, the beauty of the 2000 is instead found in the fullness of the fruit and its frank expression. There are touches of exotic cinnamon, rosemary and grilled almond notes, deepened with layers of olive paste. Great quality, it lingers on the palate. One of the signatures of Château Léoville Poyferré is its willingness to go all out to make wines that are generous and that make you smile; you get the sense with this wine that they enjoy their good fortune and hope that you do too."