Potensac

- DECANTER "Best buys of the northern Medoc: Eight top estates", Stephen Brook (März 2020): "The renown of this 60ha estate near Ordonnac is not surprising, as it has been owned by the Delon family of Château Léoville Las Cases for 250 years. Part of the vineyard is on gravelly clay, and there’s a sector with limestone that gives very long-lived wines. The anomaly here is that Cabernet Sauvignon only represents 35% of the plantings, with Merlot at 45%. But the remainder is Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, varieties that often deliver some of the most impressive lots.

Except for a few parcels of old vines, the vineyards are machine-harvested. Yields rarely exceed 40hl/ha, which helps to explain the wine’s concentration, as does the fact that a substantial proportion of the production is downgraded into the second wine or sometimes simply sold off. Until 1997, older barrels were exclusively used, but today Potensac is aged for about 12 months in 30% new oak. The result is a dense and structured wine that can safely be cellared.

It’s the policy of Potensac to hold back stock of about one third of each vintage, which means that it is often relatively easy to find mature bottles."

Weingut: Chateau Potensac

Menschen/Inhaber: Familie Delon

Region/Ort: Medoc

Betriebsgröße: 60 Hektar