The wine of the month
Château Léoville Poyferré, 2012
4,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP
January 2022: Château Léoville Poyferré, 2012 (95 EUR/107 USD in Sweden), red dry blend wine, Saint-Julien, Haut-Médoc, Médoc, Bordeaux, France, 4,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (90 points of 100 points) (2022-01-10 by Nenad Jelisic)
Château Léoville Poyferré belongs to one of the fourteen wine castles (chateaux), which were classified as Deuxièmes Crus, the second highest French wine class, according to the legendary 1855 Classification. When NJ Wines tasted Château Léoville Poyferré 2012 in September 2016, it got 3,5 NJP. When NJ Wines tasted it just over five years later, in December 2021, it got 4,0 NJP. This says a lot about this wonderful wine and its development potential. Balance between the wine's tannin structure, concentration, fruitiness and acidity is exceptionally good. All this says that Château Léoville Poyferré 2012 has a really good development potential and that it will develop for at least ten more years i.e. until at least 2032. In the beginning, the wine's aroma was filled with blackberries and cassis and then started to be filled with blue plums, black currants and dark cherries. In the beginning, the wine's flavour was filled with cassis and blackberries and then began to be filled with dark cherries, blackcurrants, coffee, vanilla and blue plums. Château Léoville Poyferré 2012 consists of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot.
The wine, like this one, with such aroma and flavour richness will fit really well with red wine marinated, thyme and Vegeta (Croatian spice blend) seasoned, lamb chops with oven roasted, thyme and Vegeta seasoned, finely sliced potatoes in olive oil, or with Pasta Carbonara, made from fresh pasta, or with Lasagne, made from fresh lasagne plates, or with Pizza Capricciosa or with freshly baked baguettes stuffed with butter and garlic with air-dried ham (Jamon Iberico, Jamon Serrano, Prosciutto Crudo or Prosciutto di Parma) or with Camembert cheese or with (Swedish) meatballs with cream sauce and buttery mashed potatoes, without any berry jam. It should be served at 18 to 19°C in Bordeaux glass, if possible, from Orrefors, Kosta Boda, Spiegelau or Riedel. Another option is to serve it at 16°C (when room temperature is above 20°C or outdoor temperature is above 23°C) and then enjoy it as it begins to open/grow in the glass.
The grapes for the wine come from an 80 hectare vineyard. The vines are on average 38 years old. The soil on which the grapes for this wine grow consists of gravel and sandy clay. The grapes for the wine are harvested by hand. After very careful selection in both vineyard and winery, destemming and crushing, the grape mass, which consists of crushed grapes and grape juice, is macerated/fermented, in stainless steel tanks. The maceration/fermentation is carried out as follows: 1. cold maceration at a temperature between 10 and 12°C and for a period between 6 and 8 days and 2. fermentation/maceration at a temperature between 28 and 30° C for 12 days. Then the grape mass is gently pressed, and the wine is moved to French 225 litres oak barrels (barrique), 75% new, where it undergoes malolactic fermentation and is aged for several months. Finally, the wine is bottled and then aged for another 1 to 2 months before it released in the market.