Chateau Potensac Médoc Cru Bourgeois

Chateau Potensac is one of the best performing Cru Bourgeois wine estates in the Médoc. It is located between the villages of Blaignan and Ordonnac in the far north of the Médoc. Château Potensac is often considered to represent the “pure Medoc style”.

Chateau Potensac, which was originally owned by Liquard family, came to the hands of the current owners via the marriage of Paul Delon to Liquard’s daughter. The Delon family are the owners of Chateau Léoville Las Cases, in St Julien and Chateau Nenin in Pomerol. These are two of the most prestigious estates in their appellations and it is no surprise that Potensac has prospered and improved immeasurably under the stewardship of the Delon family. The Chateau became the responsibility of Michel Delon in the 1970s who took responsibility from his father Paul Delon and, more recently, in 2000, Michel’s son Jean-Hubert took over the running of the business. Under Jean-Hubert there has been a complete renovation of the cellars with new stainless steel fermentation equipment. The cellar master is Pierre Rolland, brother of guru oenologist Michel Rolland. Chateau Potensac was elevated to the status of Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel, the only Medoc, in the now dufunct Cru Bourgeois classification of in 2003 (which subsequently collapsed following a legal challenge) – a clue to the quality of their wines.

Chateau Potensac is a large estate consisting of over 60 hectares of vineyards which are planted on soils rich in alluvial gravel and red clay (similar to the soils of St Estephe). The vines have an average age 35 years old and are planted 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc. Grapes are hand-harvested and then vinified in a mixture of temperature-controlled, concrete and stainless steel tanks. The wine is aged in small oak barrells, of which 20% are new, for 14 to 16 months. The wine is fined with egg whites and is bottled without filtration. The annual production is around 25,000 cases.

The 2017 is a blend of Merlot 47%, Cabernet Sauvignon 35%, Cabernet Franc 17% and Petit Verdot 1%.