2016 Potensac: A Jean-Nicolas Maltais kind of wine...

[JimHow]

Oh man I just uncorked this Nicola, but this wine is a beauty!
It goes to the old adage, is it modern or is it a wine that benefits from the great wine-making improvements of the modern age?
This wine is "pure," kind of like the Canadian purity of Jean-Nicolas Maltais....

[JimHow]

Got this for $28 per bottle, Nicola, this is a nice left bank deal!
You know, believe it or not, this is the first time I recall ever drinking Potensac from any vintage.
I may have tried it once or twice before with BWEers, but I just don't recall.

[Nicklasss]

No, don't say that Jim. I feel like i won a Grammy or an Oscar!

Too much honors to be compared to the 2016 Potensac made by Delon of LLC.

Nic

[OrlandoRobert]

Cool, I need to grab some. The 2014 is quite pretty.

[AKR]

I feel like Potensac takes a long time to really strut its stuff. For my taste its lean when young, and then gets fruity as time goes on. I was waffling between opening the 2000 Potensac or the 1996 Lagrange last night, and went with the latter.

[JimHow]

I liked that 2016 Potensac yesterday, Arv, precisely because it had a certain sternness to it.
I'm going to get more especially at the price.
Boy there are some nice under $35 Bordeaux out there from 2016...

[Ianjaig]

Glad you are enjoying the 2016, Jim.

I must admit, I must be bit of an outlier with Potensac however, as this Producer has consistently been underwhelming and disappointing for me. I have always found them to be thin and “weedy”. I went to a tasting recently (where we had the 03 & 08) and it was interesting that the rep mentioned that they had recently torn up a parcel of their vineyard planted with cabernet and replaced it with white grapes instead, as they had found that this particular parcel was ‘thinning’ their wines. Be interesting to see if there is a resulting improvement.

[JimHow]

Indeed, it is weedy and stern, Ian...
Just the way I like my Medocs!

[AKR]

Glad you are enjoying the 2016, Jim.

I must admit, I must be bit of an outlier with Potensac however, as this Producer has consistently been underwhelming and disappointing for me. I have always found them to be thin and “weedy”. I went to a tasting recently (where we had the 03 & 08) and it was interesting that the rep mentioned that they had recently torn up a parcel of their vineyard planted with cabernet and replaced it with white grapes instead, as they had found that this particular parcel was ‘thinning’ their wines. Be interesting to see if there is a resulting improvement.

Yeah, I've been reluctant to buy more until I finish my existing stock, but it sounds like 2016 is worth checking out.

There is going to be so much wine for sale (for real, not a Zachys sale) in the next year that its going to be crazy, for those who still have incomes.

[Ianjaig]

Indeed, it is weedy and stern, Ian...
Just the way I like my Medocs!

All good (and each to their own)!

[Nicklasss]

Me too. I enjoyed two bottles of the 2016 Potensac and i like the light severity of that wine, with enough dark fruit and tannins, without alcohol warm, just like i want to have in a good Médoc.

The 2016 Potensac has already been put on the "best Potensac" sticker by some critics. I think it is possibly really true. Like Ian and Arv wrote, normally a tough wine in it first years, but they seemed to have have found that special twist in 2016 (or the vintage?) That give that nice fruity edge in addition to the light severity.

Nic

[JimHow]

“Light severity.”
Perfect!
It’s an oxymoron, but it describes the 2016 Potensac perfectly.

[robert goulet]

Popped the '97 a couple weeks back...just classic old school claret action, tannins resolved...primary, secondary and tertiary notes all on display... an extremely satisfying quads. $40 insane deal

[Gerry M.]

With nothing else to do right now during the isolation, I really have a lot of shit I could be doing but deciding to be lazy today, I'm researching some cellar defenders to buy in NH. Along with Capbern and Siran, I'm considering Potensac. In reading everyone's comments regarding how "stern" the wine is, it's interesting to note Jeff Leve even suggested laying this down for 10 years. In reading this I have to ask myself the question: do I want to commit scarce cellar space to such a wine for 10 years?

[JimHow]

I've been loving those $30-range 2016s from NH, Gerry, I'm finding them fun to drink young.