Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Lots of blackberries and currants, as well as violets and stone. Medium to full body. Creamy tannins and a flavorful finish. Precise. A blend of 47% merlot, 35% cabernet sauvignon, 17% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot.
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Wine Enthusiast
Tannins in this wine are supple and lithe, providing a good backbone for the blackberry fruits. It is already an attractive wine, ready to drink over the medium term from 2022.
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Wine Spectator
A bright, high-pitched style, featuring cherry and pomegranate fruit laced with floral and chalk hints. On the leaner side, with the mineral edge holding sway on the finish, but this remains fresh and pure.
Barrel Sample: 88-91 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium to deep garnet-purple in color and blended of 47% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2017 Potensac reveals delicate, perfumed scents of roses, chocolate-covered cherries, spice box and mulberries with hints of wild sage and pencil lead. Medium-bodied, the palate exudes freshness with plenty of bright, crunchy black fruits, framed by grainy tannins, finishing with an herbal lift.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
One of the most—if not the most—famous red wine regions of the world, the Medoc reaches from the city of Bordeaux northwest along the left bank of the Gironde River almost all the way to the Atlantic. Its vineyards climb along a band of flatlands, sandwiched between the coastal river marshes and the pine forests in the west. The entire region can only claim to be three to eight miles wide (at its widest), but it is about 50 miles long.
While the Medoc encompasses the Haut Medoc, and thus most of the classed-growth villages (Margaux, Moulis, Listrac, St-Julien, Pauillac and St. Estephe) it is really only those wines produced in the Bas-Medoc that use the Medoc appellation name. The ones farther down the river, and on marginally higher ground, are eligible to claim the Haut Medoc appellation, or their village or cru status.
While the region can’t boast a particularly dramatic landscape, impressive chateaux disperse themselves among the magically well-drained gravel soils that define the area. This optimal soil draining capacity is completely necessary and ideal in the Medoc's damp, maritime climate. These gravels also serve well to store heat in cooler years.