CHÂTEAU POTENSAC
2023 Cru Bourgeois Médoc
Concentrated and intense, fragrant spicy notes of green peppercorn, liqourice root, smoked earth, freshly cut herbs and black tea. Plenty of lift, a little serious and austere, but this is a well balanced and enjoyable wine. Harvest September 18 to 29, 20% new oak for ageing. No 2nd wine of Potensac since 2021, since they pulled out more than 20ha of vines to retain only the most high quality parts of the vineyard. Drinking range: 2028 - 2040 Rating: 92 Jane Anson, www.janeanson.com (May 2024)
75cl bottles (wood case of 6)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
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)
The 2023 Potensac has a well-defined nose: predominantly black fruit, with touches of seaweed in the background. I warm to it more with acquaintance, and it gradually coheres. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins and a fine line of acidity. Silky-smooth in texture, you can tell that there is some quality new oak on the finish, which is simpatico with the fruit. It's a good, solid Potensac that will require three or four years in bottle. Drinking range: 2028 - 2040 Rating: 90-92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Apr 2024)
The 2023 Potensac is a solid effort, offering up aromas of dark berries, cherries, loamy soil and cigar wrapper, followed by a medium-bodied, fleshy palate that's taut and penetrating, with good depth at the core. Rating: 89-91 William Kelley, The Wine Advocate (Apr 2024)
Beautiful dark fruit with purity and freshness. Medium- to full-bodied, seamless and compact. Outstanding quality of tannins, so fine and dense. It’s muscular and taut on the mid-palate. Lingering, too. Plenty of energy. Close to 2022. Rating: 93-94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2024)
Château Potensac
Château Potensac is owned by the Delon family, owners of Léoville-Las Cases and Nénin. Potensac belies its humble Cru Bourgeois status and regularly outperforms its more illustrious neighbours.
The vineyards of Potensac are located in Ordonnac in Médoc. The blend is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon, with approximately 40% Merlot and Cabernet Franc combined.
Yields are severely restricted to around 35 hl/ha (hectolitres per hectare) and rigorous selection for the 'grand vin' consigns roughly 35% of the harvest to the second wine, named Château Lassalle. Michel and Jean-Hubert Delon do not filter their wines as they prefer the more caring approach of fining with egg whites.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those on the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do contact our private client team via email or on 020 7018 0187.
Ordering
Prices are all in bond by the case size stated.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment to buy wines on release, as long as the release price is within the upper and lower price bands set by you on the pre-order form. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability but providing this firm commitment to buy effectively gives you priority and is a good idea for the most desirable wines.
Wines listed on the website can be ordered in the usual way via the website wishlist order form. You can also send orders directly to our private client team via email. Please note that, for the most sought-after wines, priority will be given to those who ordered the same wines last year and to those that have pre-ordered.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of email confirmation. Pre-orders are not binding if the release price is above your upper price band.
Invoices are all raised at the in bond price (excluding any duty and VAT) which will become payable at the prevailing rates when the wines arrive in the UK, should you wish to take duty paid delivery.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We regret we cannot accept credit cards for en primeur orders. We reserve the right to apply a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (at LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £500. Orders below this total will be charged an administration and handling fee of £16.50+ VAT when invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery of 2023 Bordeaux bought en primeur is expected during 2026. Delivery dates may vary as wines are shipped from Bordeaux at different times.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes). Immediate payment of invoices is then required by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option but please note that confirmed orders are still binding even if the final invoice has not yet been issued.
Please specify on your wishlist order form where you would like the wines shipped on arrival in the UK. If this is to a third-party bonded warehouse, please specify the relevant account details. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue a second invoice for duty and VAT at the prevailing rate when the wines are available for delivery.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the format you want. While most of our listings are for 75cl bottles, we can source wines in any format that is offered by the Château. Please note that format requests cannot be changed once wines have been invoiced. Additional charges for special formats do apply and are as follows:-
- +£18.00 per case of 12 half-bottles
- +£30.00 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£7.50 per case of 3 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£11.00 per case of 6 Magnums
- +£45.00 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£60.00 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.
Storage Options:
Wines bought en primeur won't arrive in the UK until 2026. If you do not wish to take home delivery at that point, you may wish to consider where you would like the wines shipped. Lea & Sandeman offers duty paid and in bond storage through a dedicated storage company called Elephant Storage. For more details on the terms and fees associated with storage please go to our Storage Homepage or contact our private client team for more information.