I always enjoy my visits chez Potel; the wines usually offer value, start with ‘good quality’ as a baseline, and occasional cuvées can be stunning. More importantly, because the house style is largely consistent and neutral (and you have a wide palate of cuvées), you can get a great feel for the vintage in almost half a day, without the wood getting in the way.

First up a few whites that are already bottled. Fabrice Lesne has been working at the domaine for a while now, his prior experience came at the Hospices de Nuits, Domaine Bertagna and also looking after the Meursaults of Bouchard Père et Fils. After going through the bottles Fabrice put me on the spot and asked with a smile, “so, what did you think?” I replied that I preferred the delivery and minerality of his 2004’s as the 05’s seem rather rich at the moment – he shrugged – keeping his big smile and said “of-course, but that’s the vintage!”

There’s a lot of wine packed into these bottles and it will be interesting to see how they settle. Today they all more about rich and poweful delivery, than taught, structured intensity – many will prefer them to the 2004’s – but not me, not yet.
2005 Nicolas Potel, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er La Maltroie
Medium lemon-yellow. The nose is high-toned with a little citrus and deep segments of fruit. Rich but round flavours expand in the mid-palate and show good length. This is a clean, powerful and quite interesting wine.
Rebuy – Yes
2005 Nicolas Potel, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Champs-Canet
This wine hails from the Meursault side of the appellation. The nose is narrower, tigher and more melon influenced – it really doesn’t give any clues to the label. The palate is quite opulent, almost 2003 in delivery – though with much better acidity. On the finish there is still a texture from the oak – nothing major, and it will probably be gone within 6 months. Again this is a rich, powerful wine that today shows none of the classic Puligny tension.
Rebuy – Maybe
2005 Nicolas Potel, Meursault 1er Genevrières
A nose of real width, at it’s centre an intense core of agrumes with (perhaps) just an edge of marzipan. A soft and understated entry, but real mid-palate power is evident that effortlessly carries into the finish which today mainly shows sweet oak flavour.
Rebuy – Maybe

I should subtitle this as “don’t worry about the price of 2005 Musigny”. Given that the average 2005 will be (a little) better than the average 1999, this excellent wine really exemplifies what treasures await in 05 – and from all sorts of appellations too – don’t worry about the trophy wines, just fill your storage space with good 05 village and 1er Cru wines and you have the opportunity to drink well for the best part of the next 20 years; and if 2007 is hailed as even better than 2005 – so what! – you can go on holiday to the Maldives instead of chasing the en-primeurs…
1999 Jean-Claude Belland, Santenay 1er Comme
Deep colour – actually there’s still just the merest hint of cherry-red at the rim. The reticent nose is rather brooding, alternately showing some lovely pure blackcurrant fruit then a rather more mineral note – not unlike the graphite of a Paulliac, perhaps hints of licorice too. Very well textured – you really have to roll the wine around your mouth to find the tannins as they still have plenty of dark fruit coverage – faint grain can be found eventually. There’s real concentration here and quite a burst on the mid-palate too. The acidity is just right, only on the finish does this wine hint at its origins – medium-plus length at best. This wine delivers much more than I expected, and in a very understated way – it probably requires at least 3-5 years more in the cellar – but this bottle was far from sacrificed.
Rebuy – Yes

What a nightmare, here I am with a lovely glass of wine that I can hardly concentrate on. Even someone who visits the Côtes every second month or so gets excited when the next issue of burghound is released – particularly so when it’s his first look at the 2005’s. I know some laughed at the hyperbolé of “these wines will define the benchmarks for a generation” – but Allen basically exhorts you to sell your house, wife and dog to buy these wines…bugger…what about the tax-man(?), on second thoughts, I have no chance of selling him!

Back to this wine:
2002 Nicolas Potel, Vosne-Romanée 1er Aux Malconsorts
Medium, medium-plus cherry red – there is very little colour development. The nose starts faintly sweet over a brooding base that threatens at anytime to explode – but never does – slowly there is a cool fruit aspect with just an edge of cream and eventually something a little more savoury. The palate has an understated entry, but with the help of some flowing acidity it really comes to the boil in the mid-palate and onwards – nice, complex density here. If you look hard you will find some fine grained tannin. Despite the understatement of the finish, it has exemplary length – if a touch saccharin – but it’s young. In a word – yes!
Rebuy – Yes
Note by clicking the green dollar sign above I found out that this wine is cheaper than many Vosne villages from 2005 – now that’s silly!

I had a very nice lunch in Beaune last week, and it provides me with an opportunity to give you a nice new restaurant tip and also to mention an uncommon, but tasty wine. The restaurant was called Clé de Voûte. If you enter the ring-road around Beaune from the direction of the (Lyon) auto-route, almost immediately on your right is a large antiques shop with its own small courtyard. If you have the chance, park in one of the spaces directly in front of the antiques shop – if you subsequently buy something from them, I’m sure they won’t mind – and just another door or two further-on is the restaurant. You head down the steps into a nicely converted cellar and more importantly to very good food. The wine-list is modest, but well-priced.
Onto the wines; not your first choice maybe, but the wines of Albert Bichot are (in my opinion) becoming rather dependable choices. First up was a good value, tasty Mâcon (Domaine Clos de l’Eglise) which is about 20% barrel ferment and the rest done in stainless-steel. Of most interest was a lovely Meursault – a red one! Checking with Bichot who produce the Domaine du Pavillon wine; it seems that they could have made more money by replacing the 40+ year-old vines (close to Volnay Santenots) with chardonnay – I’m glad they didn’t – it seems that we both think that there’s a little too much personality in the wine for that. It’s a well coloured, fresh and pure pinot with real drive, it does show the cedar of 2004 but in this case it’s on very low register such that it adds a nice complexity. Apparently there’s not so many bottles made, so if your country doesn’t get any – c’est la vie – but it’s worth a try.

2004 Domaine Clos de l’Eglise, Mâcon-VillagesRebuy – Maybe
2004 Domaine du Pavillon, Meursault (Rouge)Rebuy – Yes

Frankly I drink almost no Beaujolais – two months ago there was that glass of ‘nouveau’, okay, half a glass – well, almost half a glass…

Putting aside the quality of the ‘nouveau’, it’s not for a lack of available quality that I don’t buy ‘Cru Beaujolais’, rather (for whatever reason) it’s just not in my mind while I’m handing over my credit-card details. Perhaps the merchants need to be more proactive and start listing Beaujolais with all their Burgundy offers – both ‘online’ and in print. Even the most expensive of the wines below will only retail for ~12 Euros – there is far more value here than most regional burgundies.

I had the chance to taste some of the Potel-Aviron wines again this year, wines made in the traditional burgundian way rather than by carbonic maceration. The wines from the 2005 vintage are much deeper coloured than the 2004’s and have an extra level of structure to match – they will need much more time to smooth out. This time last year, the 2004’s were already quite drinkable, I suspect these impressive 2005’s, which were bottled just after the 2006 harvest, will need at least another year before they start drinking.

2005 Potel-Aviron, Fleurie Vieilles Vignes
Deep colour. The nose today is hardly elegant – forward, sweet, angular black fruit – but with aeration it slowly takes on a smoother shape. The palate is dense and fresh with plenty of grainy tannin – the flavour completely covers your palate with a thin layer of interesting fruit. Medium length, this is quite unknit, very young and a long way from achieving the typical elegance of Fleurie. I suggest waiting about one year for this serious bottle to come round.
Rebuy – Maybe
2005 Potel-Aviron, Moulin-à-Vent Vieilles Vignes
Deep colour. The nose is a little more understated than the Fleurie but also more ‘together’. The palate shows quite the same level of tannin, but this time it’s a little finer and so shows just a little more astringent. There is more than a touch of chocolate to the fruit and this time there is an extra dimension of flavour on the mid-palate. Again this is very, very young and will require at least one year before it starts drinking. Should be super.
Rebuy – Yes
2005 Potel-Aviron, Morgon Côte de Py Vieilles Vignes
Again this is very dark. A deep, impressive and cohesive nose with fresh high notes and even a little creamy vanilla – very classy. Lots of fine grained tannin and a rush af acidity taking you through the mid-palate to the finish. This is mouth-filling wine that again has about a medium-plus finish.
Rebuy – Yes

Finally I bought some!

Three of us decidied it would be a white wine night at the at the restaurant Le Chassagne. The service was both excellent and friendly, the wines were very well priced and the food was very well presented – but like our choice of wines, the food was good rather than great. The company was, however, ‘very fine’.

2004 Jean Chartron, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Clos de la Pucelle
Medium lemon-yellow. The wide, high-toned nose shows a little citrus interest and some faint oak artifacts – it’s quite interesting, but could do with a little more density. The palate is delicate rather than dense – I feel there is something missing – perhaps the yields were a little high(?) The good acidity brings you quickly into the mid-palate, and initially a rather coarse showing due to the oak treatment. An hour from opening and the wine is much more comfortable in it’s own skin and quite Puligny; clean but missing 1er cru intensity. Good but not great.
Rebuy – No
2004 Coche-Dury, Meursault 1er Caillerets
Medium lemon-yellow. The nose is quite high-toned with faint, but not excessive, estery notes over a base of mainly pear fruit. The palate is a little fatter than the Chartron, quite silky and also shows good acidity. There is some intensity of fruit, but despite some minerality it is delivered in a rather dense and unyielding fashion. Excellent length. This is a very good and very well proportioned wine, but I miss some engagement.
Rebuy – Maybe

I bought a six-pack of this wine ‘en-primeur’ – without tasting – you can do that with a relative degree of confidence with some producers. From the first sniff I’m thinking: ‘maybe I didn’t buy enough…’

2004 Bouchard Père et Fils, Volnay 1er Caillerets Ancienne Cuvée Carnot
Medium, medium-plus cherry-red colour. From cellar temp (15°C) the nose shows several layers; high-toned jellied black fruit at the top, earthier, leathery notes in the middle and lower-down. Leave the glass for a while and it fills with cream and a faint smoke edge – mmm. The palate is quite a departure from the norm in 2004 – lots of faintly grained tannin – but there’s quite enough intensity of black-shaded fruit to match. The acidity takes a little-bit of backseat to the fruit and tannin, just slowly making your mouth water. I might wish for a little more expansion in the mid-palate, but the finish is long with hints of mocha and a bitter young-oak edge. Not the easiest of wines to drink, but no green notes here. This very young wine needs at least three 3 years before revisiting – but it will be worth it – it has the potential to be excellent.
Rebuy – Yes