Traversing the realm of Bordeaux, it's quickly noticeable that some estates share remarkable familiarities in the form of first or last names. As one might guess, often times these estates share an intertwined story, and the reality is that over the centuries, dynasties have formed and fragmented, with chateaux consolidating and splitting up, sometimes these chateaux even if geographically far apart might share the same owner who's marked the estates with his or her own name, whilst other times, these chateaux might literally be neighbours, cut up from a once larger plot! 

Today we'll explore one of Left Bank Bordeaux's most highly regarded siblings - meet the Leoville's!

The Early History Of One Single Leoville Estate

The Leoville estates, all of which in the St-Julien appellation, today with three different chateaux belonging to three different owners, are all greatly acclaimed, having ranked highly as Second Growths, or Deuxièmes Crus, in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification of who's who of the time. And as you might have guessed, these three estates were once a unified single massive plot some time ago in their history, so let's get to know them!

Before there was Chateau Leoville Las Cases, Chateau Leoville Barton and Chateau Leoville Poyferre, there was just one Chateau Mont-Moytie. Mont-Moytie had belonged to Jean de Moytie, who was a member of the Bordeaux Parliament, and it was in the early 1600's that the estate became amongst the first in the Medoc (the commune at the tip of Bordeaux's Left Bank, which today holds some of Bordeaux's most prominent winemaking chateaux) to produce wine, alongside legendary First Growths Chateau Margaux and Chateau Latour. Thanks to the work of de Moytie, vines were planted in the estate for winemaking, and thus he had called the gravel ridge which the estate sat upon Mont-Moytie, or Moytie's Mountain. This alone makes the Leoville estates amongst the oldest continuously active winemakers of Bordeaux today.

The Bordeaux Parliament.

This massive estate would be held within the same family for close to a century, before it eventually came into the hands of the de Gascq family via a marriage in 1740. Alexandre de Gascq, Lord of Leoville, who had married the great grand-daughter of the de Moytie family, would thus rename the estate Domaine Leoville, after his own title. It's worth pointing out that de Gascq was politically quite prominent, having also himself become President of the Bordeaux Parliament, and whose family had also owned Third Growth's Chateau Palmer and Chateau d'Issan. A already highly accomplished and still very ambitious man, de Gascq would set about making Leoville the star of the Medoc. He invested heavily in the estate and brought about much innovation, from switching to smaller fruit varietals to lining vineyard rows with pinewood, as well as aging his wines in oak barrels, which he kept from damage with the use of sulfur. Many of these practices have now become widely employed, and at the time led Leoville, with its giant 200-hectare vineyards, to great repute. Even US President Thomas Jefferson was said to be a huge fan, and would affectionately call the estate "Lionville"!

The Emergence Of Three Leoville's

De Gascq's family would carry on the family's management of the vineyards, that was until the French Revolution swept the country. At the time, the estate was owned by the Marquis de Las Cases, however as he was an immigrant, the land would thus be sequestered by the government and a portion of it put on auction. This led to the first instance of the Leoville estates being divided between the years of 1826 to 1840. The larger half was to become Chateau Leoville Las Cases, still within the Las Cases family, with the smaller half that was auctioned now becoming Chateau Leoville Barton, after having been acquired by the Irishman Hugh Barton - it's pretty easy to see how the two parcels got their names!

Within the Las Cases parcel, it wasn't over just yet! The estate upon being inherited by the Marquis' children, would further be divided with the eldest son, Pierre Jean de Las Cases, being granted what would stay on as the Chateau Leoville Las Cases, whilst his sister, Jeanne, would later pass on her share to her daughter, wife of baron Jean-Marie Poyferre de Ceres, which would result in the creation of the final Chateau Leoville Poyferre.

Remnants Of A Shared History

Despite their separation, the three estates nevertheless were still very much seen as one, both from a historical standpoint, as well as a geographical one, with many wine merchants and experts then believing the Leoville estates to have the best position of the St-Julien commune, a massive plateau seated right by the river, with steep slopes that offered excellent drainage. "Mr Barton possesses the smallest third of the famous Léoville vineyard. Baron de Poyferré and Monsieur le Marquis de Las Cases have the rest. But whatever the name of the owner, it’s always Château Léoville. Little to separate them and everything of the highest quality." wrote an expert during the surveying of estates for the 1855 Bordeaux Classification. 

And thus all three Leoville estates received Second Growth status, an incredibly high standing, and behind just the four estates that made First Growth.

Chateau Leoville Las Cases and Leoville Poyferre continue to share buildings till this day!

Even today, the historical buildings of the 1800's before the division remain standing and are even shared! Whilst Las Cases and Poyferre share their chateau building, a courtyard and even a parking lot, Barton was left without a chateau for winemaking, and thus uses the chateau of Langoa Barton instead - in fact, pictured on Leoville Barton's wine label, the chateau seen is that of Langoa Barton! And thus Chateau Langoa Barton's chateau is indeed used for making two separate wines, that of Chateau Leoville Barton and that of Chateau Langoa Barton. That said, Leoville Barton and Las Cases do share the same wine consultant, Eric Boissenot, in any case. Till this day, all three Leoville estates are owned privately by families who live locally.

A Quick And Dirty Cross Comparison Of The Three Leoville's

We'll explore the individual histories of each estate below as we get to tasting them!

And so skipping ahead, let's talk about how the styles of the individual estates compare with one another. As noted above, Leoville Las Cases remains the largest of the three at 98 hectares, whilst Leoville Poyferre stands at 80 hectares and Leoville Barton at 51 hectares, with Barton featuring the highest percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon vines, and Las Cases and Poyferre having similar varietal compositions. All three estates have gravel rich soils, with Las Cases and Poyferre also having sand and clay, and in the case of Poyferre even limestone, whereas Barton's estate lacks sand. Poyferre's vines are the oldest on average at about 45 years old, which is followed by Las Cases's vines at 40 years old, and Barton's are the youngest at 30 years on average.

In terms of the wines they produce, Poyferre's wines tend to be richer, more lush, and bolder as a result of using more Merlot in their cuvee, as well as featuring some spice from the solitary use of Petit Verdot. Meanwhile both Las Cases and Barton pursue a more traditional classical style, that is often viewed as being more structured, austere and masculine, resembling that of Pauillac's wines. It's often advised that Las Cases and Barton's wines require more age for the tannins to soften.

With all that said, let's get into the three Leoville's!

Into Chateau Leoville Las Cases

So first up! We'll go with Leoville Las Cases! We left off with the original Leoville estate being divided into two (as a result of the French Revolution), which birthed Leoville Las Cases and Leoville Barton. Leoville Las Cases would stay with the Las Cases family, which is how it got its name, whilst the other quarter would go to Irishman Hugh Barton. It was said that Barton had purchased the estate with the intent of returning it to the Marquis, who he believed was the rightful owner, yet as the Marquis was unable to pay Barton back, he had insisted that Barton keep the estate.

By the end of the 19th century, the estate would find itself in need of a new manager, and this proved to be a valuable opportunity for one Theophile Skawinski. Skawinski would use his position as manager to steadily accumulate ownership in the estate until he eventually became its owner in 1929. It was under Skawinski that a portion of the vineyards (which featured a different terroir) were carved out to produce a second label, which gave Leoville Las Cases the honour of being the first Bordeaux estate to officially produce a second wine.

The estate would eventually pass over to the Delon family, the heirs of Skawinski, who till this day continue to manage the estate. The family, led by Michel Delon, have thus far done a great job of continuously enhancing the estate, and since 2000, Chateau Leoville Las Cases has been passed along to his son, Jean Hubert Delon. Besides Leoville Las Cases, the Delon family also owns Chateau Nenin in Pomerol and Chateau Potensac, north of Leoville Las Cases.

The 98 hectare Leoville Las Cases (the largest of the three Leoville's) is planted with 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. It's land is characterised by lots of gravel with also some sand and clay, with vines of 40 years on average, planted to a density of 8,600 vines per hectare. Winemaking here remains traditional, with grapes fermented in temperature controlled wood, concrete and stainless steel vats. The Grand Vin wines are vinified exclusively in over 50 year old oak tanks. After malolactic fermentation in tank, blending is done, after which the wine is 90% new French oak barrels for 18 months before bottling.

Let's give it a taste!

Tasting Notes

Colour: Deep Garnet

Aroma: Immediately an incredible depth and evocativeness, filled with beds of dried roses, violets and potpourri. There's some dunnage mustiness as well, giving it this sense of antiquity and age. It's heady and perfumed, extending out into dried fruits of dried lychees, before being cusped by concentrated yet more subtle fruit preserves, of blackberries, blackcurrants and black cherries, leaning darker toned.

Taste: Medium bodied, yet remarkably plush and velvety, it's supported by great richness and filled in with concentrated fruit preserves of dark cherries and raspberries. Some more pointed streaks of acidity emanates from the fruit with a slight pucker. More on those dried roses that add a perfumed element to the body. The tannins here are fine and almost unnoticeable yet the body is structured and firm.

Finish: That acidity develops in the form of lightly tart cherries and dollops of yogurt. Some savouriness of dried herbs add to the finish as well. It remains fuller and with depth, with more of those earthy tones yet here it's subtle without being overtly earthy. Light mustiness, still along that entirely seamless finish, concluding upon more of those red fruits of raspberries and cherries, although fresher here.

My Thoughts

A very impressive showing by Leoville Las Cases! This combined power and concentration with elegance and restraint. It was always evocative in its aromas and flavours, with depth and expressiveness, almost taking you into its world, and at the same time it always feels structured, where you eventually meet that concentrated and bold core, giving that whole tasting journey a very resolute conclusion. It's also thoroughly seamless, again very structured and polished, which always makes the wine feel very complete alongside the more lifted aromatics. The tannins are fine yet firm, you never quite feel them directly, but their presence in keeping the wine's form is always felt. And then there's much to be said about the balance - there's florals, and fruits, red and dark, richness and then more pointed dimensions of acidity, with newer developments of complexity coming through in the finish, in the form of herbaceous savouriness and that persistent yet subtle earthiness. It entirely feels like a wine with such resolute form and presence, that's also very complete and polished. Very, very elegant, it definitely lives up to its reputation!

Into Chateau Leoville Barton

Headed right back into the French Revolution, we know that the grand Leoville estate was partially seized from the Marquis de Las Cases, who was an immigrant, with a quarter of the estate having been auctioned off. The buyer of that parcel was one Hugh Barton, who came from a successful wine negociant family that had immigrated over from Ireland back in the early 1700's. The Barton family had over the years acquired other vineyards before Leoville, first the Chateau Le Boscq in St. Estephe, and then Chateau Langoa Barton (previously Pontet-Langlois) which sat across the street from what would become Chateau Leoville Barton.

By some accounts, Hugh Barton had never really wanted that quarter parcel of the Leoville estate, and had apparently wanted to simply purchase it and return it to the Marquis. Yet, however, the Marquis was unable to pay Barton back for it, and thus Barton was told to keep it. There probably is truth to that given that the parcel that would become Leoville Barton didn't come with a chateaux or any winemaking facilities! And thus wines from the newly carved out estate had to be vinified over at Langoa Barton instead - over time this became a tradition and remains the practice today, which is why on the label of Chateau Leoville Barton's wines, the chateaux depicted is actually that of Langoa Barton, as Leoville Barton itself has no chateaux!

Nevertheless the three Leoville estates, as mentioned, were largely graded as one, and going into the 1855 Bordeaux Classification, all three would receive Second Growth status. As the Barton family remains the owners of the estate till this day, this makes Leoville Barton one of only two estates who continues to belong to the same family from the time of the classification!

Fun Fact: That's Chateau Langoa Barton, where both its wines and that of Leoville Barton's are made!

Over the next century and a half, successive generations of Barton's have taken care of the estate and have continued to produce great wines from the estate, largely eschewing modern technology, and interestingly adheres to a self-imposed fair pricing policy which keeps its wines very affordable till this day! So if you're looking to try something from the Leoville's, keep a look out for the Leoville Barton.

The 51 hectare Chateau Leoville Barton (the smallest of the three) is planted with 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc, upon soils that are mostly gravel with some clay, with 30 year old vines on average. The vines are planted to a density of 9,000 vines per hectare and has been progressively shifting towards organic farming. The estate does not practice green harvesting, instead opting to regularly prune to reduce yields. Winemaking is as mentioned, done at Chateau Langoa Barton just opposite, with vinification done in large wooden vats. Fermentation is done with the practice of co-inoculation, where both alcoholic and malolactic fermentation takes place simultaneously. The wines are then aged in 50% new French oak barrels for 20 months before bottling.

Let's give it a taste!

Wine Review: Chateau Leoville Barton, Saint Julien 2021

The 2021 Chateau Leoville Barton is composed of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Garnet

Aroma: Remarkable depth here! All these deep rows of dried roses, it's quite romantic! The heady and vibrant florals are accompanied by some fresh soil. It's superbly perfumed and rich, with more on dark cherries and lightly tart and almost milky strawberry yogurt gummies coming forth. 

Taste: Medium-bodied here, those dried rose petals persist seamlessly, joined by streams of cherries and blackcurrants which brings about some light tartness. It's got a moderate depth and concentration to the body, with a good richness to it, tending towards a heavier profile here. It's given a more supple quality to the body that's also more plush.

Finish: More acidity begins to come through on the finish, the tannins firmer and more prominent here. Cranberries, blackcurrants, and cherries bring about more of that flashy acidity, accompanied by some earthiness of dried tobacco leaves and soil residing closer towards the back. It's a clean and shorter finish here that's led by light fruity tones.

My Thoughts

The Leoville Barton demonstrates a rather similar core flavour profile to the Leoville Las Cases, and especially on the nose it overdelivers to say the least! The aromatics were simply off the charts on the nose, dominated by this immense blackhole filled with dried rose petals that was just absolutely spectacular, you almost felt like you were dipped into a swimming pool filled with potpourri. Additionally there was a very delightful light pucker that came in the form of strawberry yogurt gummies, that interestingly had a sort of creaminess to its acidity - I found that quite brilliant as well!

On the palate, it once again leads with those rose petals, followed by those red fruits with the acidity. And yet I found that the Leoville Barton appears to trade off some finesse in the form of concentration and depth, for instead a more supple and buoyant body. This gave it a more plush texture that definitely felt more accessible and welcoming, yet forsakes some of that intensity and density. It also felt alittle more bulky on the body and weighed more heavily, which again whilst certainly more agreeable, seemed to have let go of some elegance here. The finish was pretty straightforward and enjoyable, mostly led by some fruitiness, I did find it alittle short and perhaps somewhat simple. An altogether more friendly and crowd pleasing wine that still punches above its weight, yet trades off some concentration and complexity as a result.

Into Chateau Leoville Poyferre

Getting past the whole French Revolution saga, with the Leoville estate now divided into Leoville Las Cases and Leoville Barton, what of the last of the three, Leoville Poyferre? This was therefore the result of the Las Cases estate having been passed down to successive generations from the Las Cases family, where Pierre Jean de Las Cases, the eldest son, would continue to own the Leoville Las Cases estate, whilst his sister, Jeanne, would pass along her share of the estate to her daughter, who would marry the Baron Jean-Marie Poyferre de Ceres - and thus Chateau Leoville Poyferre was further carved out of the Las Cases estate.

Till this day, Leoville Las Cases and Poyferre both remain connected - sharing the same buildings, courtyard and parking lot! 

Eventually the Poyferre estate would be first sold to the Lalande family (which later transferred to the Lawton's via marriage - responsible for the demi wolf that emblazons the label till this day!), before being acquired by the Cuvelier family in 1920, and who had already owned the St. Estephe estate Chateau Le Crock and the Chateau Camensac in the Haut Medoc (and would later acquire fellow St Julien estate Chateau Moulin Riche). The Cuvelier family too were negociants and wine merchants, and had been in the business since the early 1800's. In the early days of the Cuvelier's ownership, they had allowed the Delon family who now managed Leoville Las Cases, to also manage Poyferre.

Poyferre's buildings were finally renovated recently so they now look rather like the early drawings on the label!

Now Leoville Poyferre is often immediately recognisable for its striking yellow label that also sports a rather, shall we say, minimalist drawing of a chateaux, which is a big contrast to the usual highly stylized or visually grandiose chateaux that we often find on Bordeaux labels. Nevertheless this label was created by the first member of the Cuvelier family before Poyferre had its own chateaux, and thus it was meant to be a simple placeholder of a logo, yet it has been kept on for tradition and remains as it was today.

Yet most crucially, it was Didier Cuvelier who had taken charge of the estate who raised the profile of Poyferre inarguably the most! Didier had taken over in 1979, and he was serious about it, having went to study winemaking in preparation. He would study under the famous wine consultant Professor Emile Peynaud who had imparted on Didier many great practices that were subsequently applied to Poyferre which substantially improved the quality of the wines. Under Didier, the winemaking facilities were modernised, several parcels of vines were replanted, which whilst extensive (taking a whopping 19 years!) and initially having taken a massive toll on yields, would eventually prove to be fortuitous. Under Didier's leadership, the estate has since doubled in size to 80 hectares. Today, the estate lies in the hands of Didier's niece, Sara Lecompte Cuvelier.

Into the 80 hectare vineyards of Chateau Leoville Poyferre, it is planted with 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. The estate's vines are on average 45 years old, making them the oldest of the three Leoville's (thanks to Didier's replanting efforts!), planted to a density of 8,500 vines per hectare. The terroir of the estate is marked by mostly gravel, with also the presence of some sand, clay and limestone in the soils. As for its winemaking, fermentation is done in stainless steel double skin vats, with malolactic fermentation taking place in barrels. The wines are aged in 75% new French oak barrels for 18 months before bottling.

Let's get down to tasting it!

Wine Review: Chateau Leoville Poyferre, Saint Julien 2021

The 2021 Chateau Leoville Poyferre is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Deep Garnet

Aroma: It opens with some garnishes of dried roses, much more moderate and tempered here, accompanied by some fresh soil and a much more aromatic dunnage mustiness. The red fruits here, of dark cherries and strawberries, give a slight tartness with some acidity. It's moderately rich, with overtones of aromatic earthiness.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, more of those dried rose petals, followed closely by a range of dark cherries, blackcurrants and blackberries, rather bramble in quality. There's that light fruit acidity and tartness that carries over to the body. It's got a pretty nice freshness about it and keeps itself quite plush and velvety.

Finish: Almost powdery here, of a sort of cherry scented baby powder, that's backed up by more variations of dark cherries, in the form of berries and freshly pressed cherry juice. The tannins here are firm if not a tad grippy. The finish is clean, with that richness persisting quite seamlessly if not for the grippy tannins and flashes of streaky acidity. Yet it's a nicely resolute finish.

My Thoughts

All things considered, a pretty solid expression from Poyferre! It's well rounded, fruit driven, with a definite sense of being fresher and more pure in that sense. To that end, I found the Poyferre to be the most approachable and easy going of the three, with almost a more pronounced sense of youthfulness to it (despite all three being tasted at the same vintage!). It's certainly more rounded and more singular in that regard.

Yet on the flip side, that also means that this didn't pack in much of that oomph, and didn't quite sail it home as being particularly outstanding or distinctive. It's still very easy drinking and definitely stands far away from being divisive, and yet seems to therefore be the most simplistic and straightforward of the three. That said, it's definitely got all the checkboxes marked for what would qualify it as a good and well-rounded expression.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot