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Michaelmas Term Dinner, Château Léoville Poyferré, First Release, Undergraduate Only
Michaelmas Term Dinner, Château Léoville Poyferré x Bacchus
1st Release, UNDERGRADUATE ONLY
In 1638, Jean de Moytié, a member of the Bordeaux parliament, founded an estate in Saint-Julien that would become one of the legendary names of the Médoc. Under Blaise-Alexandre de Gasq, Seigneur de Léoville, who took it over in 1740, the Léoville estate grew to more than 200 hectares. It was one of the largest vineyards in Bordeaux, and its wines were already fetching some of the highest prices. The Revolution, however, brought that unity to an end. When the Marquis de Las Cases fled abroad, his quarter of the land was confiscated, and it would later become a name some of you may well recognise: Léoville Barton, whom we were delighted to welcome to Oxford for last year’s Hilary Dinner. In 1840 the rest of the estate was divided again, and the share that came by marriage to Baron Jean-Marie de Poyferré took his name. That is when the real history of Château Léoville Poyferré began.
Only fifteen years later, in the famous classification of 1855, Léoville Poyferré was awarded the status of a Bordeaux Second Growth alongside its two Léoville siblings, a remarkable recognition for an estate so newly formed. In 1865 the oidium crisis forced the Poyferré family to sell. The estate passed through the Lalande and Lawton families until 1920, when it was bought by the Cuveliers, a family of wine merchants from northern France whose business dated back to 1804.
It was Didier Cuvelier, arriving in 1979, who became the first of the family to run the vineyard himself, transforming the estate. Over four decades he led an ambitious replanting programme and almost doubled the area under vine. He also brought in the celebrated oenologist Michel Rolland in 1994 and invested heavily in new cellars and winemaking facilities. Under his leadership, Léoville Poyferré rose to become one of the most admired wines of Saint-Julien. Since 2018, Sara Lecompte Cuvelier has carried the estate forward alongside winemaker Isabelle Davin, so that after more than a century of Cuvelier ownership, Poyferré enters its next chapter in excellent hands.
We are fortunate to be joined by Mrs Claire Ridley of Léoville Poyferré, who will be bringing up some of the estate’s most revered wines from deep within its cellars. With almost a decade spent at the estate, there is no better person to tell the Château’s rich and varied story. Join us on Thursday 5th November for an evening that takes us across the full range of the family’s estates, from exceptional recent vintages to rarities bottled perhaps even before some of you were born.
We cordially invite you to the charming Cherwell Boathouse, where these historic wines will be paired alongside a carefully curated five-course menu. We look forward to seeing you there!
DINNER INFORMATION:
Michaelmas Term Dinner, Château Léoville Poyferré x Bacchus
Date: Thursday 5th November 2026
Location: Cherwell Boathouse, OX2 6ST
Timings: Arrival at 19:30 for a 20:00 Start
Dress: Black Tie
TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE IN TWO RELEASES:
£85
RELEASE 1 (Undergraduate Only): Saturday 24th October at 18:00
RELEASE 2 (Students, Fellows and Associates of the University of Oxford): Sunday 25th October at 18:00
Maximum 2 Tickets Per Person
Michaelmas Term Dinner, Château Léoville Poyferré x Bacchus
1st Release, UNDERGRADUATE ONLY
In 1638, Jean de Moytié, a member of the Bordeaux parliament, founded an estate in Saint-Julien that would become one of the legendary names of the Médoc. Under Blaise-Alexandre de Gasq, Seigneur de Léoville, who took it over in 1740, the Léoville estate grew to more than 200 hectares. It was one of the largest vineyards in Bordeaux, and its wines were already fetching some of the highest prices. The Revolution, however, brought that unity to an end. When the Marquis de Las Cases fled abroad, his quarter of the land was confiscated, and it would later become a name some of you may well recognise: Léoville Barton, whom we were delighted to welcome to Oxford for last year’s Hilary Dinner. In 1840 the rest of the estate was divided again, and the share that came by marriage to Baron Jean-Marie de Poyferré took his name. That is when the real history of Château Léoville Poyferré began.
Only fifteen years later, in the famous classification of 1855, Léoville Poyferré was awarded the status of a Bordeaux Second Growth alongside its two Léoville siblings, a remarkable recognition for an estate so newly formed. In 1865 the oidium crisis forced the Poyferré family to sell. The estate passed through the Lalande and Lawton families until 1920, when it was bought by the Cuveliers, a family of wine merchants from northern France whose business dated back to 1804.
It was Didier Cuvelier, arriving in 1979, who became the first of the family to run the vineyard himself, transforming the estate. Over four decades he led an ambitious replanting programme and almost doubled the area under vine. He also brought in the celebrated oenologist Michel Rolland in 1994 and invested heavily in new cellars and winemaking facilities. Under his leadership, Léoville Poyferré rose to become one of the most admired wines of Saint-Julien. Since 2018, Sara Lecompte Cuvelier has carried the estate forward alongside winemaker Isabelle Davin, so that after more than a century of Cuvelier ownership, Poyferré enters its next chapter in excellent hands.
We are fortunate to be joined by Mrs Claire Ridley of Léoville Poyferré, who will be bringing up some of the estate’s most revered wines from deep within its cellars. With almost a decade spent at the estate, there is no better person to tell the Château’s rich and varied story. Join us on Thursday 5th November for an evening that takes us across the full range of the family’s estates, from exceptional recent vintages to rarities bottled perhaps even before some of you were born.
We cordially invite you to the charming Cherwell Boathouse, where these historic wines will be paired alongside a carefully curated five-course menu. We look forward to seeing you there!
DINNER INFORMATION:
Michaelmas Term Dinner, Château Léoville Poyferré x Bacchus
Date: Thursday 5th November 2026
Location: Cherwell Boathouse, OX2 6ST
Timings: Arrival at 19:30 for a 20:00 Start
Dress: Black Tie
TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE IN TWO RELEASES:
£85
RELEASE 1 (Undergraduate Only): Saturday 24th October at 18:00
RELEASE 2 (Students, Fellows and Associates of the University of Oxford): Sunday 25th October at 18:00
Maximum 2 Tickets Per Person