After I had seen a picture of Chateau Léoville Poyferré on the internet I knew I had to see it. It looks strange but I was driven by the two fountains on the photo. Nevertheless I know that pictures can deceive your eyes but….. this chateau has something old and also new.So from Bordeaux we drove on to Saint-Julien-Beychevelle. This village lies between Margaux and Pauillac. The surface of vineyards around this place is not so big but the name Saint-Julien-Beychevelle is well-known name world-wide. Château Léoville Poyferré is classified ‘second grand cru classé’ in 1855.
Once it had the largest vineyard of the area (200 ha). But sadly in1840 the vineyards were divided into two parts. One part became Chateau Leoville Las Cases and the other Léoville Poyferré. Both were named after their new owners. And this was in fact the birth of Leovile Poyferré. And if that wasn’t enough the estate got divided into three different Léoville estates: Léoville Las Cases, Léoville Barton and Léoville Poyferré. Because the vineyards of each chateau weren’t next to each other, harvesting was a big problem.
In 1920 Léoville Poyferré was bought by the Cuvelier family. This family has a long history in Bordeaux. They started like some other future chateau-owners as wine-dealers (négociants in French) or wine merchants. At that period the modern age arrives for the winery.
Not only on the picture by also for real this property is amazing. Our tour made that clear. But what makes a visit complete? First seeing the ‘chai’, the wine cellar. This is like a nursery for wine. Standing before closed doors is something, but when they open its indescribable. Second the tasting. Not every tasting is the same. Sometimes it’s not only tasting different wines. We got three wines in combination with ‘grand cru’ chocolate. Grand Cru is the purest and highest quality. With each wine we got chocolate from a different country and with another percentage of cacao in it. Combinations of food and wine are the opinion or work of a chef, sommelier or other specialist. You don’t have to agree with them. And I not always do. But this time I really was amazed. Everything was in perfect harmony and balance. The name of this chocolate-brand is Hasnaâ. It‘s made by Hasnaâ Ferreira. She is an artisan chocolatier. Her products are very, very good! https://www.hasnaa-chocolats.fr
And of course I don’t have to mention that each time the wines were superb. On to our fourth winery in the Graves area…..