2009 Leoville Poyferre @ $210/btl. Buy?

[DavidG]

This is what HWSRN says. Emphasis is mine. It sounds like the epitomy of everything traditionalists despise about modern Bordeaux. Anyone here tried it?

Robert Parker—100 Points: "One of the more flamboyant and sumptuous wines of the vintage, this inky/purple-colored St.-Julien reveals thrilling levels of opulence, richness and aromatic pleasures. A soaring bouquet of creme de cassis, charcoal, graphite and spring flowers is followed by a super-concentrated wine with silky tannins, stunning amounts of glycerin, a voluptuous, multilayered mouthfeel and nearly 14% natural alcohol. Displaying fabulous definition for such a big, plump, massive, concentrated effort, I suspect the tannin levels are high even though they are largely concealed by lavish amounts of fruit, glycerin and extract. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2040. "

[robert goulet]

Not when u can get last years BWE WOTY '08 LP for under$100!!!

[JimHow]

That seems high to me David.
Following up on BobbyG, the excellent 2006 can still be had for under $60.

[AlexR]

I thought the wines of Saint-Julien were particularly stellar in 2009 and bought some LP for myself en primeur seeing this as one of the best.

200 bucks isn't cheap, but this is a wine you won't regret having.

Alex R.

[Bacchus]

Sorry for the thread drift, but it's conundrum time. If a bottle of the 06 LeoP were the same price as the 04 DucruB, which would you go for? If anyone's had both, a comparison would be appreciated.

As for the 09 LeoP, $210 seems high to me too, especially considering the price of the 08.

[OrlandoRobert]

Kicking myself hard in the arse for not having bought more of the '04 when it was floating around a few years ago for $50!

I bought the '03 for about $115. Passed on '09 and '10. No thanks at that price.

[DavidG]

Thank you all. I was hoping you would convince me to put away the plastic and step away from the keyboard.

I think this thread may mark a milestone in BWE history: the first time the group has DIS-enabled the purchase of a bottle of Bordeaux.

[Bacchus]

Okay, just to be contrary (even against myself). For the sake of science, how about buy one bottle and give it a whirl. I'm sure we'd all love to hear that our initial advice was wise.

[jckba]

I tasted the 09 Leoville Poyferre back at the January 2012 UGC in NYC and for me it was certainly one of the top wines of the day. With that being said, when I came home afterwards that night and started checking prices on winesearcher, if I remember correctly, the futures price here in the US was around $150-$160 and at that time I simply deemed that too much to pay. Now post 100WA rating with the wines now being / already have been delivered, lowest winesearcher is $237.50 (RL Liquid Assets) while the average winesearcher price is at $299 (4/24/2013). With all other things being equal, $210 would seem to me to be a nice point of entry for this wine at this time. I personally ended up pulling the trigger on this wine for $2,295/cs (or $191.25/btl) on an offer from the Wine Connection on 4/3/2013 and also just received a JJBuckley private client offer this morning for $210 to give you an idea of other prices floating around for this. Ultimately it is up to you to decide what a btl of wine is worth and whether or not to buy ...

[jckba]

Continuation to my prior post as I could have pieced it together better:

I also thought Saint Julien was one of the better performing / more consistant communes in 09. And as to the stylistic differences, the 09 Poyferre was definitely more fruit forward / modern in style to let's say the 09 Barton for example which I tasted afterwards, and while they were both layered and complex I preferred the Barton more and ending up buying it on futures. The real question becomes, why are you thinking about buying; in order to keep a vertical going for yourself or for investment as my advice on whether to buy would likely change accordingly depending on your answer.

[Harry C.]

David-less than I paid. You know your taste versus Uncle Bob's-Is your 100 points his 100 points?

[JimHow]

PJs has the excellent 2006 for $69.

[JonB]

I bought at $108. I wouldn't buy at $200+. If it is for consumption and doesn't have to make perfect economic sense, then I'm sure you can find comparisons to Napa cult cabs or First Growths that says $210 is a value. But there are a lot of very good wines for much less.

[OrlandoRobert]

That's kinda my take, Jon.

There are so many stellar wines at the $100 and under price-point. Now that said, even $100 for me is a lot of money for a wine, but one that I gladly pay for top quality. This past year in that top quality range I have bought 2009 GPL, 2009 and 2010 Clape Cornas, 2007-09 Allemand Cornas, 2009 Ch. Branon, '92 Dunn, 2007-09 Dominus, then some miscellaneous Burgs and Champagne. More notable, though, I have bought some more mature bombers in the $150 price point: 2003 Montrose, 1989 Pichon Baron, '82 GPL, '82 La Lagune, '86 Gruard, etc. With these types of wines in the mix, I am hard pressed to think about paying $200-$250+ for the so-called 100 point Parker wines from the 09/10 vintages, like Leoville Poyferre, SHL and Pontet Canet. I'm sure these are very fine wines, but I'd rather buy the more mature wines for slightly less or 2 of the others noted for each one of the 100-point Bdx. That's my frame of reference.

Now all that said, I buy a ton of very fine wines in the sub-$50 range. Sociando, Giscours, La Lagune, Baudry, Joguet, Gonon, Roilette, Foillard, etc. Any of these wines provide very fine drinking for even the geekiest of geeks.

[Nicklasss]

As Parker is at the final few years (months?) of his reign, it is like he's giving more 100 points than ever.

And what is sad is that I don't really know If a 100 points wines is so much better than a 94 points wine, but it is surely a good reason to shell it +100$ per bottle...

At that price, it is clearly a pass for me.

Nic

[DavidG]

I'm buying for consumption, not investment. And I'm fine with modern Bordeaux as long as it develops that magic complexity when mature. I'm on record as believing that will happened with '09s, just like it did with '82s, '90s, and is now starting with '00s.

But there are good reasons posted above to pass on this one, namely price and availability of older vintages that are better deals. So I'll use the same logic I used to pass entirely on the 2010s: I'm too old and have too much wine in the cellar, and the wine is too expensive and will take too long to hit peak.

[pomilion]

I bought at $108. I wouldn't buy at $200+. If it is for consumption and doesn't have to make perfect economic sense, then I'm sure you can find comparisons to Napa cult cabs or First Growths that says $210 is a value. But there are a lot of very good wines for much less.

Jon hits the nail on the head. I've had the wine, and it's incredible. Comparing it to Napa cabs or first growths, you can easily argue that it's worth it. I bought a bunch at $108 to $120 a bottle and wouldn't buy at $200/bottle. But if you're buying other high ticket wines for $200+ a bottle, '09 LP may well be as good or better than those wines so you might think about it. Personally I rarely spend more than $150/bottle these days, and there's a lot of great bordeaux, both recent vintages and aged, out there for $150 or less.

[Gerry M.]

If you routinely spend $200/btl for wine or you are, no offense intended, a trophy collector then by all means buy it. However, as others have noted there are tons of less costly alternatives. Given my preference for well aged Bordeaux and my age, I'm not going long on more recent oe current vintages. I'm also skeptical of how much interest or appreciation my kids would have for an inherited cellar. One confession, I popped $155 for a bottle of 09' Clinet only because it was a RP100 pt'r and the price was well below current market so I guess there's little bit of trophy hunter in most of us.

If you want some incredible wine that is approachable short term I've bought 89' Pichon Lalande and Baron in the $140-$160 range recently. Also, a huge over achiever, 1990 Ch Lagrange for $100 never fails to amaze me. If you're still in the market to spend $200 I throw it towards some 1989 Ch. Montrose that can still be had for about $240. $200 for 2010 Poyferre?? Nah, I'd take a pass.

[marcs]

I got half a case of 2010 Leoville Poyferre at $90 a bottle from Premier Cru...now that felt like a buy! (Assuming I ever get it of course).

[finner]

I bought 2000 LP for $70 per and 2004 LP for $50 per. I am done and satisfied.

[billfgrady]

My last purchase of LP was 2002 at $35 and 2003 at $45. At $210, this is a clear PASS for me.

[robertgoulet]

again..this is an easy pass

[DavidG]

Yup. You guys convinced me after the first few posts.

[DavidG]

Hmm, Bobby G's recommendation of the '08 Poyferre is looking pretty good right now...