Chateau Potensac 2016

Open-knit, with a mix of bramble, sweet tobacco and steeped red and black currant fruit flavors. A lightly roasted apple wood note and a flash of iron check in on the finish, adding spine. Drink now through 2029. 23,333 cases made.

Oz Clarke: Young, purple, rich and oaky. This is a bit 'made' and modern in style but is a big, rather rich and plummy spicy wine, if a little tannic. Sarah Jane Evans MW: This is intensely aromatic, with notes of cedar and cigar box and wafting round, black fruits. The blend is classic and richly layered in ripe and glossy flavour with a resounding finish. Tina Gellie: A fresh and youthful wine, it has baked dark berry and plum fruit with vanilla. It’s decent, not complex though. Recommended by Panos Kakaviatos

Suave aromas of cedar and fresh red flowers with a thread of ripe red berries and blackcurrants, mulberries, coal smoke and cool stones. The palate delivers a wealth of rich red-fruit flavors, framed in sleek tannins that build with precision and length. A class act. One of the best from here in the modern era. Try from 2023.

Tasted blind. Rich nose, mineral texture. Very cool-tasting. (JR)

The 2016 Potensac is a huge overachiever. Succulent black cherry, plum, spice, leather, licorice and lavender flesh out in this striking, deeply flavored Médoc. Inky, racy and super-expressive, the 2016 is a wine of pure and total seduction. Jean-Hubert Delon's entire portfolio is impressive in 2016, but the wines from Potensac are especially of note. Tasted two times.

With a classic combination of cigar box, forest floor and cassis, the wine is full-bodied, tannic, firm and fresh. Structured to age, give it at least a decade for the wine to soften, developing complexities and softness.

Deep dark ruby, opaque core, discreet brightening on the rim. Dark berry fruit with fine tobacco notes, a hint of cassis and tangerine zest in the background. Full-bodied, round and elegant, pleasant fruit sweetness, integrated, supporting tannins, savoury with delicate nougat on the finish. Showing development, but still with ageing potential.

Another sleeper is the 2016 Château de Potensac, which is 44% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, all aged 14 months in 30% new French oak. This beauty is upfront and ready to go, with a dark, rich bouquet of currants, unsmoked tobacco, graphite, and earth. With beautiful concentration and a layered, elegant texture, it’s one of those wines that has ample upfront appeal yet will keep for 15+ years.

Purple with a violet rim. On the nose, blackberry bramble and blueberry contours with ripe blueberries, followed by a fragrant hint of violet. Juicy on the palate, supported by sandy tannins and a blueberry-driven finish – good potential. A pleasant surprise.

Kunz barrel sample 17: (39% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot, 55 hl/ha, 13.8% alc./vol.) Floral, powerful, sweet bouquet, cassis, redcurrant, elderberry, red licorice, vanilla. Silky, fragrant, sweet palate with good fruit, fine sandy tannins, muscular structure, good aromatics, long, slightly firm finish.

(39% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot, 55 hl/ha, 13.8% vol. alcohol) Floral, powerful, sweet bouquet, cassis, redcurrant, elderberry, red licorice, vanilla. Silky, fragrant, sweet palate with good fruit, fine-grained tannins, muscular structure, good aromatics, long, slightly firm finish. 17/20 2023 - 2034

With 44% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot, the 2016 Potensac is medium to deep garnet-purple in color. It charges out of the gate with bold cassis, blackberry pie, and chocolate mint notes, plus hints of pencil shavings and black olives. Medium to full-bodied, the palate offers taut, muscular fruit with a firm frame of ripe, grainy tannins and bold freshness, finishing long.

Potensac 2016 can still wait a little, even though after a decant it now shows very well, with a creamy, indulgent character on the palate. Very enticing.

Dark, intense color with slight evolution. Moderately intense nose with fresh, ripe, and spicy fruit. Caressing on the attack, juicy as it develops, the wine glides into the finish where a slightly austere note appears. Normal length. Blend: 44% merlot, 39% cabernet sauvignon, 15% cabernet franc, 2% petit verdot.

Intense, youthful, fruity bouquet. Notes of blackcurrant and redcurrant, followed by refreshing hints of peppermint. On the palate, the wine shows energy and flesh. It deserves some cellaring and has excellent ageing potential.

This ripe wine offers structure from the Cabernet in the blend but also rich berry fruits with just a hint of chocolate. Its density and acidity give a smooth as well as juicy aftertaste.