Léoville Poyferré shares much of its early history with the Léoville estate- the mother of the châteaux Poyferré, Barton and Las-Cases. Léoville was split after to the death of its owner Alexandre de Gascq and the impending French Revolution. A quarter of the original estate remained, belonging to Jeanne Poyferré whose name it took on henceforth. A string of bad luck including odium, poxes and war led the Lawtons, its owners to agree to sell to the Cuvelier family who were established throughout Bordeaux as négociants. All three of the estates which had originally together been Léoville won the ranking of deuxième crus in the 1855 classification, but through the middle of the 20th century, Léoville Poyferré’s reputation began to dwindle as a result of poor wines.

In 1979, the estate passed to Didier Cuvelier, an accountant with shrewd business sense who was able to recognise the investment required to put Poyferré back on the map of wine-lovers world over. Didier hired experts Emile Peynaud and Michel Rolland, modernised facilities and shifted the focus of his vines to Cabernet Sauvignon and has since been rewarded by seeing the quality of his wines go from strength to strength.