2001 Ch. Leoville-Poyferre

I was at a celebration for my friends' new baby, who for a boy, was very cute. I know about these things. I have 2 boys and, generally, newborn boys look like 90 year old men waiting to play shuffle board on a cruiseliner or Southern Florida. After listening to the parents speak about their child and how/why they were naming their child (one just as amazing and well spoken as the other), I spyed an open bottle of 2001 Leoville-Poyferre. It was sitting toward the rear of a built-in piece that holds wine glasses and other bar items. It was breathing and getting ready...for me. Obviously, I waited for my friend to go first and offer me some, but I had already scoped out the situation.

I've had other vintages and am waiting on some 2003s and 2005s (futures) to mature, but I've always like this wine. Once I got my glass (and the type of glass does make a difference in tasting wine), I stuck my head in and inhaled. The smell was big and ripe and amazing. Unfortunately the FIRST taste wasn't quite as good as the smell. The 2001 is still a bit tight and needs a few more years before it is really ready. That being said, I don't want you to get the wrong idea, this is/was a fantastic wine. The smell merely gives you a foreshadowing of better things to come.

Ch. Leoville-Poyferre is one of the second growths of St. Julien (Left Bank, i.e., Cabernet based wine). For many years it was a noted underperformer, partlicularly given where the wines are made and some of the wines that are made on essentially the same ground (at other chateaux). This all changed about 25 years ago. The current owners have improved and updated their wine making process and sought out and followed the advice of well-known French winemaker Michelle Rolland.

The 2001 Poyferre is still a pretty young claret. However, it's still a pretty full-bodied wine, with something for everyone. It has great terroir for French wine traditionalists and a nice round fruit flavor for the rest of us uncivilized folk. Still a young wine, there's a fair amount of tannins (like I said, the wine is still pretty tight) that will likely continue to ripen and mellow over the next few years Still, this wine has a fabulous silkiness on the pallet.

Wines from this area of the Medoc are known for their balance, frangrance and deep color. The 2001 Leoville-Poyferre does not disappoint and should age well for years to come.