Traditionally, Bordeaux wine estates were named after their owners or founders. But histories path to ownership of Leoville Poyferre is a long and winding road shared with Chateau Leoville Las Cases starting all the way back to 1638.

 Jean de Moytié, a member of the Bordeaux Parliament owned a Bordeaux vineyard. Moytie called it “Mont-Moytié. Mont-Moytié was one of the first chateaux in the Medoc to produce wine along with Chateau Margaux and La Tour de Saint-Lambert, which we know as today as Chateau Latour. The domaine remained in the family for almost 100 years. Through marriage, the estate ended up as part of the de Gascq family. Alexandre de Gascq renamed Mont-Moytié as Leoville, or Lionville.

The Leoville estate was at the forefront of Bordeaux vineyard management at the time. Some of their ideas seemed odd at first to many growers, but today many of their those vineyard practices are still widely in use. For example, they changed the grape varieties in the vineyards to smaller berries, they trellised the rows with pinewood. They began aging the wine in oak barrels, which they kept clean using a sulphur solution. While we take this for granted today, in those days, they were wild ideas! By the time Alexandre de Gascq died, with his steady purchasing of Bordeaux vineyard land, Leoville was one of the biggest vineyard in Bordeaux at more than 200 hectares!

 The Saint Julien property was divided in 1840. Pierre Jean de Lascases, the oldest son received a share, which became Château Leoville Las Cases. His sister, Jeanne, passed on her share to her daughter, wife of Baron Jean-Marie Poyferré de Cerès. What we know as Leoville Poyferre was born, however at the time, it was sold under the name of Baron de Poyferre.

While the vineyards were separated, the buildings remained connected, just as they are today. In fact, the parking lot for both chateau is a common area. You park in either one, to visit the other. This is a unique arrangement in not only the Medoc as well as all of Bordeaux.

 The true modern age for Leoville Poyferre beings with the purchase of the estate by the Cuvelier familiy in the 1920’s. The Cuvelier family got their start in Bordeaux the same way numerous other future chateau owners did, as negocants, or wine merchants. The Cuvelier family has a long history in the Bordeaux wine trade dating all the way back to 1804.

The first purchase made by the family was their property in St. Estephe, Chateau Le Crock in 1903. They next purchased Chateau Camensac in the Haut Medoc appellation. They followed that up with their next two investments, Chateau Leoville Poyferre and Chateau Moulin Riche. Interestingly, even though they were experienced chateau owners, at first they allowed their neighbor manage Leoville Poyferre. Roger Delon, one of the owners of Chateau Leoville Las Cases was the first to manage the estate for the Cuvelier family. The logo featured on the label is statement about the tradition of the family. Before Leoville Poyferre had a chateau, the first member of the Cuvelier family to own the chateau created a simple design with for a chateau with a small tower on both sides. In 2014, a new facility was created, celebrating that design as the now, modernized building is a long rectangle with a small tower on both sides, similar to the estate’s original design.

 This changed in 1979 with the accession of Didier Cuvelier, who became the first member of his family to take charge of Leoville Poyferre. Didier Cuvelier first trained and went to school to study accounting before he started to learn about wine. His teacher was Professor Emile Peynaud. This was a fortuitous move for the property as the wines made by Didier Cuvelier once again put Leoville Poyferre on the map to wine lovers all over the world. Some of the first changes made by the young 26 year old Didier Cuvelier include bringing Michel Rolland as well as Emile Peynaud into the fold. This was quickly followed by a modernization of the winemaking facilities at their Left Bank estate. The positive changes in the wine from Leoville Poyferre can easily be seen by tasting the wine. The rapid jump in quality first appeared in 1982. However, Didier Cuvelier was not the first person to introduce innovation at Leoville Poyferre. In fact, Chateau Leoville Poyferre was one of the first Bordeaux chateau to trellis their vines using pine stakes. This is common today, but not two centuries ago. Leoville Poyferre was also one of the first Bordeaux produces to rinse their barrels with sulfur to help protect their wines from spoiling during the shipping and aging process.

Leoville Poyferre is clearly one of the most exciting properties in Saint Julien and all of the Medoc today. As we mentioned earlier, much of the credit goes to the owner Didier Cuvelier. How did this happen? As wines are made in the vineyard, much of the improvement is due to that fact that in 1979, Didier Cuvelier began a nineteen year replanting program for the vineyards. At the time the replanting started, approximately 30 percent of the vineyard was planted at Leoville Poyferre. Much of the land lay fallow. Since those early days. the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon was increased and the first plantings of Petit Verdot took place. Under the direction of Didier Cuvelier, the vineyard almost doubled in size, from 48 hectares up to its current size of 80 planted hectares.

 The 80 hectare Saint Julien vineyards of Leoville Poyferre are planted to 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. The vine density in the vineyard is 8,500 vines per hectare. The terroir is gravel with some limestone. The majority of the vineyards are in a few large, parcels, with the best terroir placed close to the Route de Medoc, also known as the D2. Michel Rolland consults on the wine making.

While the estate of Leoville Poyferre was modernized in 1984, they have continued improving and renovating the property time and time again. In 2010, in time for harvest, the vat rooms were completely renovated at Leoville Poyferre. They replaced 10 large vats with 20 new, stainless steel, double skin vats with a capacity from 60 hectoliters to 165 hectoliters giving them 56 vats in total. This allows for very precise vinification on a parcel by parcel basis. Malolactic fermentation takes place in barrel. However, it’s important to note that even with all the modernization and renovations that have taken place recently at Leoville Poyferre, because they share a parking lot with Leoville Las Cases, which necessitated locating the actual winery on one side of the street, while the barrel rooms are located across the way, on the other side of the street. Leoville Poyferre came up with an ingenious idea of how to move the wine to the barrels from the tanks. They created a system of underground pipes to move the wine safely from vats to barrels. Prior to the underground pipes, the wine was moved by hand in steel tanks using tractors. The wine is aged in an average of 75% new, French oak barrels for 18 months before bottling.

 The style of Leoville Poyferre is a Bordeaux wine that offers lush ripe fruit with purity and concentration a powerful, plush style. Scents of cassis, spice and black fruits, with truffle and tobacco aromatics are the hallmarks of this wine. Leoville Poyferre has been one of the most consistent producers of high quality Bordeaux since 2000. They have made so many great wines, it’s hard to pick a favorite. However, 2009 Leoville Poyferre stands heads and shoulders above the previous vintages. With elegant textures and round silky tannins along with the ability to age, this is a Bordeaux wine to keep your eye on.

Production of Leoville Poyferre is close to 20,000 cases of St. Julien wine per year. The estate produces two additional wines. Moulin Riche, which comes from a specific 21 hectare parcel of vines in the St. Julien appellation that was purchased back in 1920 by the Cuvelier family. At one point in time, Moulin Riche was considered to be the second wine of Leoville Poyferre, but that is not the case today. Now, the second wine of Leoville Poyferre is actually Pavillon de Leoville Poyferre. The family also owns a successful negociant company that they started in 1804, H. Cuvelier and Fils.

Die Flasche ist in einem guten Zustand (Etikett leicht beschädigt, Kapsel und Füllstand - siehe Fotos)
und wurde im klimatisierten Weinkeller fachgerecht gelagert.


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