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

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. 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+