Ratings & Tasting Notes:
Wine Spectator, March 2007
Highly aromatic, showing cherry, currant and floral notes. Medium- to full-bodied with fine tannins and a fresh, clean close. Judged “still tight” at the time of review and in need of further cellaring.
Wine Advocate, February 1998
Saturated dark ruby in the glass, and described as “elegant, complex, and evolved.” Herb-inflected blackcurrant and cassis flavors that come across supple, round, generous and appealing.
International Wine Cellar, May 1998 (no score published)
Dark red, with cool-toned dark berry and menthol aromas. Sweet and textured on the palate, “already displaying plenty of personality.” More evolved and more accessible than the 1996, finishing with substantial chewy tannins.
Cult Wines International Notes:
Potensac sits in Ordonnac, on one of the highest points of the northern Médoc, where limestone subsoil is covered by clay and a high proportion of gravel — a terroir often compared to Saint-Estèphe. The estate has stayed in the same family for generations, handed down through its women; the current owner, Jean-Hubert Delon, inherited it from his paternal grandmother, Georgette Liquard, and also owns Léoville Las Cases and Nénin. That connection is the reason Potensac has long been considered the northern Médoc’s great overachiever, a wine widely judged to be of classified-growth quality and elevated to Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel in the 2003 revision. The 84-hectare vineyard includes parcels of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc planted more than seventy-five years ago.
1995 broke a run of difficult years in Bordeaux. A hot, dry summer brought the fruit to full ripeness, and settled weather through the harvest kept the grapes clean to the final picking. The result was a classic, firmly structured Médoc built for the long haul rather than for early charm — and thirty years on, that structure has done its work. Critics found the wine elegant and evolved even in its youth, with dark ruby color, cassis and blackcurrant fruit tinged with herbs, cherry and floral lift, and fine tannins closing on a fresh finish. Expect that fruit to have turned toward the savory now, with cedar, tobacco and earth alongside. Drinking beautifully.
Bottle Size:
750 mL
Storage History:
Always stored on its side in a climate-controlled cellar.
Condition:
Please note: The bottle shown is the exact bottle being sold.
Outstanding condition.
