TASTE
The northern Médoc was the great success story in the 2003 vintage, sublimating the summer heat into power and depth rather than overripeness. This is a great example, all blackberry, tobacco and measured richness, with real plumpness and length on the palate.
FOOD PAIRING
Beef, Lamb, Game (deer, venison), Poultry
PRODUCER
Château Potensac is arguably the best known château of the Médoc appellation, thanks both to its consistently high quality and to being owned by the Delon family of Château Léoville-Las Cases – two factors that are of course linked. Inherited by Michel Delon from his paternal grandmother, this property is in the commune of Ordonnac, just north of Saint-Estèphe.
VINEYARD
The 84-hectare vineyard extends mainly over hilly mounds with a limestone subsoil covered with clay and gravel outcrops containing a high proportion of gravel. These limestone soils are very similar to those found in the Saint-Estèphe appellation. Some of the vines are over 80 years old, and the average is an impressive thirty-eight years.
WINERY
The wine was vinified in temperature-controlled concrete and stainless steel vats, then matured in oak for 14-16 months with twenty percent new wood.