Chateau Potensac 2018

This 2018 vintage offers a ripe, very expressive fruit and a powerful and particularly velvety tannic structure. Elegant and opulent, it combines the power and classicism of a great vintage to age with the delicacy of solar vintages.  Blend: 45% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot

94 Points - James Suckling     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.

93 Points - Jeb Dunnuck     The Grand Vin 2018 Château Potensac (45% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc, and the balance Petit Verdot) sports a deeper purple, almost opaque hue to go with lots of ripe black cherry and currant-like fruits intermixed with notes of toasty oak, tobacco, graphite, and earth. Richer and more concentrated than the Chapelle de Potensac release, with full-bodied richness and building tannin's, it's going to benefit from a solid 5-7 years of bottle age and keep for 15+.

92 Points - Wine Spectator     The dark cherry and plum fruit is fresh and direct, with light tobacco and toast accents hanging on the finish.

91 Points - Decanter     Plush plum in colour, with a depth to the body that starts from the first sip. A clear step up from the second wine, as I have found in many Médocs in the vintage. Raspberry and blueberry fruits which then deepen out to the classic black fruit notes of Potensac. Bottled in mid-April, ageing in barrel was kept to 14 months to avoid any over-extraction, because alcohol levels are pretty high. 1% Petit Verdot completes the blend. Drinking Window 2024 - 2025

90 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate     The 2018 Potensac is composed of 45% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. The wine has 14.42% alcohol and was aged in 35% new barriques. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it rolls out of the glass with open-knit scents of ripe, juicy black plums, boysenberries, redcurrant jelly and cassis, plus hints of dried Provence herbs, cinnamon stick and dusty soil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is chock-full of lively black and red berry layers, supported by soft tannins and a racy line, finishing with a lively skip in its step.