CHÂTEAU POTENSAC
2018 Cru Bourgeois Médoc
We tried this on a number of occasions in Bordeaux and loved it each time. Enticing, ripe vibrant nose - the red and dark berry flavour jumping out of the glass. Medium bodied and packed full of fruit. Forward and approachable in a compact style. Classy claret. Drinking range: 2022 - 2032L&S (Apr 2019)
* 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.
The 2018 Potensac has an outgoing nose of wild strawberry and raspberry notes and touches of meat juices, a slight gaminess emerging with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with edgy, crisp tannins. Quite tight on the entry, it finds its groove in the second half, displaying commendable delineation and tension on the graphite-tinged, slightly austere finish. Fine. Drinking range: 2022 - 2038 Rating: 89 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Mar 2021)
The 2018 Potensac is every bit as appealing as it was from barrel. Ripe and pliant, with terrific purity of fruit, the 2018 captures all of the natural radiance of the year. This fleshy Haut-Medoc delivers superb quality in a forward, open-knit style that can be enjoyed with minimal cellaring. The bouquet shows lovely savory and floral Cabernet notes that work so well with the pliant Merlot fruit. Time in the glass brings out a surprising amount of freshness, with bright acids that suggest 10-15 years of cellaring potential is a safe bet. Drinking range: 2025 - 2038 Rating: 92 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Mar 2021)
Fruity nose of blackcurrant and blueberry with sage and vanilla. It’s full-bodied with firm tannins. Savory and juicy with pleasant acidity. Compact and long. Racy. 45% merlot, 36% cabernet sauvignon,18% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot. Try after 2023. Rating: 94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2021)
The 2018 Château Potensac sports a saturated purple color as well as a Cabernet-dominated nose of blackcurrants, cassis, tobacco, and earth. This beauty is full-bodied and concentrated, with notable freshness balancing terrific ripeness. It’s going to evolve nicely for two decades. The blend is 45% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, still aging in 35% new oak. Rating: 91-93 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2019)
Deepest cherry red. Nicely stony/dusty dark-red fruit. Juicy raspberry fruit, so lively and fresh. Deliciously approachable and still persistent. Super-fine tannins so it seems to be all fruit. Drinking range: 2021 - 2028 Rating: 16.5 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2019)
The 2018 Potensac is blended of 45% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, all harvested between September 21 and October 13, with yields of 49 hectoliters per hectare. The wine has 14.42% alcohol and is to be aged in barriques, 35% new; the finished blend was put into barrels last December. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it rolls effortlessly out of the glass with bright, fresh red and black plums, crushed blackcurrants and bay leaves with hints of cracked pepper and damp soil. Full-bodied, rich and laden with red and black fruit layers, it has a plush frame of rounded tannins and fantastic freshness, finishing long Rating: 90-92 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2019)
The excellence of this lies in the quality of the tannins, which are so polished and refined. Compact and tight. Medium-bodied. Very, very long. Beauty already. Rating: 93-94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2019)
This is 45% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, all picked between September 21st and October 13th. The yield was 49 hl/ha, the alcohol 14.42% and the pH 3.57. A quite fragrant nose this year, freshly polished, with scents of cherry, plum and violets. It feels beautifully textured on the palate, with lightly creamed fruits, fresh and pure, with supple grip and substance, a tight seam of central tannins and a bright acidity. This is a lovely Potensac, elegantly poised and correct, and a very strong result. In terms of quality it calls to mind the 1996, an old favourite of mine. The élevage will be in 35% new oak barrels. Rating: 92-94 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2019)
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 2024 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.