CHÂTEAU POTENSAC

48 Cabernet Sauvignon, 35 Merlot, 17 Cabernet Franc Potensac has never had so much care and attention lavished on it, and with recent warmer vintages, it appears to be having a profound effect on this property.  While the fruit is spectacular, the freshness and vibrancy on the finish catapult this wine up the ladder of excellence.  One might have imagined that this vintage would have made somewhat bigger, heftier wines, but the opposite is true.  There is scintillating purity here, and with an average vine age of over 55 years, there is incredible depth of fruit, too.  It feels like Potensac has made a perfect fusion of ancient and modern in 2023, and I cannot recommend it enough.  I hope the pricing is reasonable so keen collectors can add this delicious wine to their inventory! Rating: 18+ Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (May 2024)

The 2023 Potensac is a seriously beautiful wine that shows just how complex and nuanced wines from this property can be. Crushed flowers, spice, red/purplish fruit, rose petal and mint are some of the notes that lift from the glass. Bright saline tones underpin the mid-palate and finish. This is one of the most complete young Potensacs I can recall tasting. Drinking range: 2027 - 2043 Rating: 91-93 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (May 2024)

This is a blend of 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and 7% Cabernet Franc. The vineyard is now fully restructured, many of the lesser parcels having been pulled up in recent years. The yield here was 48 hl/ha, from 57.69 hectares. The blend includes 12.9% press wine. For the Médoc this has a delightfully perfumed nose, with raspberry, rose petal and a praline sweetness, not to mention an undercurrent of limestone freshness. It has substance and confidence on the palate, medium-bodied as per the vintage, but sinewy and correct, with delicately juicy fruit underpinned by modestly grained tannins. The overarching style of juicy and quite delicious, with a finish carried by a little flourish of toasted oak and tannin. This is a fine Potensac for midterm drinking. The alcohol on analysis is 13.4%. Rating: 90-92 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2024)