The 2005 vintage was surprisingly strong for Léoville-Poyferré, which I had tied with Mouton-Rothschild for second place just after Haut-Brion. The blend was 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc. Picking began on 26 September with the Merlot and finished on 8 October. The wine was aged in 75% new casks. The ripe blackcurrant and plum fruit showed some well-integrated notes of cedar, smoke, and earth that remain very youthful. The feel on the palate is substantial but very elegant. The tannins are firm and solid but not astringent. The overall impression is one of well-balanced power, and the finish was subtle and long. Drinking Window 2021 - 2040
Blind tasted by Charles Curtis MW (at Atlanta, 26 Jun 2021)
Part of Bordeaux 2005 retrospective: 36 wines tasted

The Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005 has a rich and opulent bouquet with lavish ripe black cherries and wild strawberry, just a touch of licorice rendering its even more extravagant. The palate is full-bodied with ripe, rounded tannin, touches of licorices and glycerin on the mid-palate with savory notes flourishing towards the finish. This is almost a brash, hubristic Saint Julien, one for those who prefer a more opulent style of Bordeaux while maintaining complexity. Chapeau Didier Cuvelier.

– eRobertParker.com, Feb 2015

The 2005 Château Léoville Poyferré isn't the most powerful and opulent vintage of Poyferré, and while I think it checks in behind the 2000 and 2009 and 2010, it's nevertheless a beautiful, classic Poyferré relying more on finesse and elegance than overt power. That's not to say it's lightweight, and this medium to full-bodied, concentrated Saint-Julien offers terrific depth in its ripe currants, cherry jam, graphite, spring flower, and leafy tobacco-like aromas and flavors. Easily in its prime drink window, it has wonderful fruit, a fine thread of both tannins and acidity, and outstanding length. It will continue to drink brilliantly for two decades.

Quality 932 | Brand 971 | Economics 889 | buzz brand, investment staple
Quality: Above the average quality score of its peer group for the 2005 vintage, 834 Brand: We found this wine on 22 of the world's top restaurant wine lists, including Napa Wine Bar & Kitchen Economics: Above its peer group average price of £56 for the 2005 vintage Production: Higher production than its peer group average of 186,000 bottles

- www.wine-lister.com June 2017

Léoville Poyferré’s dense ruby/purple 2005 is soft, round and juicy, with lots of blackcurrant fruit, plum and Asian spice. It is medium to full-bodied and, along with Léoville Las Cases and Saint-Pierre, probably one of the best St.-Juliens I tasted in this retrospective. It is surprisingly supple and accessible. Drink it over the next 15 or so years.

Léoville Poyferré’s dense ruby/purple 2005 is soft, round and juicy, with lots of blackcurrant fruit, plum and Asian spice. It is medium to full-bodied and, along with Léoville Las Cases and Saint-Pierre, probably one of the best St.-Juliens I tasted in this retrospective. It is surprisingly supple and accessible. Drink it over the next 15 or so years. Drink: 2015 - 2030.

Robert Parker (Wine Advocate #219, Jun 2015)

Dark, narrow rimmed red; sweet, cedary early bouquet; nicely concentrated, firmly tannic, fresh, medium full wine; a lively cassis fruit, complex and fine and long, within a tannic, long term frame. Very good quality no doubt, but this is a very long term wine which needs at least a decade more in bottle. 2025-45+

Good full ruby-red. Deep, dark aromas of black cherry, espresso, tobacco, minerals and flowers. Sweet, lush and deep, with a sexy oak component lifting the opulent fruit. This boasts excellent volume and length, with the dusty tannins arriving late. There's very good underlying acidity here, but the overall impression today is of a silky, round wine.

Blackish ruby, slightly cloudy. Exotic perfume. Very mellow and round until some prominent but velvety tannins on the end. Masses of pleasure! (JR)

68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot. 18–20 months in French oak, 80% new. Malo in barrel. pH 3.6. Lots of Cabernet Sauvignon this year and no Cabernet Franc. The most evolved in colour of all the wines so far, not surprisingly, with quite a bit of brick and rather smudgy. Hedonistic mature aromas of forest floor and leather, with sweet spice. Senescent fruit but still so full of gorgeous aromas. Dry tannic finesse, great freshness and still has upright purity as well as great length. Mature but full of life and depth of fruit. Grainy but rounded texture. Big but not brash. (JH)