Domaine de Bellene Cotes de Nuits Villages Vieilles Vignes 2021
$70 each – Great Burgundy at a great price.
Potel is now an old hand in the Côte and it shows as the quality is excellent. Stylistically, if you've enjoyed the Potel wines in the past, there is no reason that you would not enjoy either variation of the Bellene wines as they are classic in the best sense of the term. BURGHOUND
I will say that 2021 is the kind of vintage that I absolutely love. Otherwise, expressed, it’s a burg geek’s vintage par excellence. The best wines are superbly fresh and transparent as the underlying terroir is wonderfully clear; indeed it’s at the core of each wine. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the terroir is so crystalline in 2021 that even those who doubt its existence might well be persuaded to reconsider their convictions. Outstanding transparency though is not all there is as the wines are strikingly refreshing and tension filled. In fact, one of my favorite Burgundian sayings when describing especially appealing or interesting wines is “le premier verre appelle le deuxième” or the first glass calls for the second; 2021 is the epitome of that sentiment. BURGHOUND
2021 has the magic that only happens in this place – Burgundy. The wines are, unsurprisingly, less phenolically structured and concentrated wines than other post-2014 vintages but that has been replaced by incisiveness and intensity – remember those? And there has been a return of an old friend; old-vine creaminess… 2021 reds in the Côte d’Or are a bridge between 2019 and something more classic. The balance of the 21s ensures interesting wines even if you choose to wait 20 years to open your bottles. Unsurprisingly, it is a vintage of such low volume that it could be quickly lost from our collective consciousness(es) – in this respect, there are many parallels to that wonderful vintage in the Côte de Nuits – 1991. BILL NANSON, Burgundy Report
Nicolas Potel is quite the character, you only need to meet him a couple of times to get a general feel for his unique perspectives on life and wine. He is a real talent, no question of it, but he is not a conventional fellow and he looks at the Burgundy wine scene through Potel tinted glasses.
In the footsteps of his legendary father he continues to make wines that connect him to a place and his heritage, he really feels for the places he farms. He also knows Burgundy and understands it more than just a commodity, it’s the vines, the soil, the people as well. He wants you to enjoy what he does, that is a central point of his ethos, make wines for people not collectors.
His views, and his openness in discussing them, may have set a few stuffy insiders off kilter over the years, but he doesn’t even register that stuff. He just keep making the wines he loves and getting them in to people’s glasses. It is with that in mind that he always presents this wine as one of his most important offerings. Why? Well, it’s the first step up in to a single site, very old vines, right in the mid slope of a patch in Comblanchien below, what was once, a very grand old home in the town.
It’s important because it remains affordable but delivers the old vine creaminess and the sense of place year in and year out, that makes this region so special to begin with. It’s the launching off point for people to see what his serious wines are all about.
This rendition is bang on, yeah, its friendly and pumped up with pleasurability but it there is evident structure here which lends it more than enough interest to keep the Burg fiends honed in.
I realised we were sitting on some stock, for some reason it wasn’t offered when it arrived. Not too much, I mean there just wasn’t much of 2021 to begin with. It would be great to see this find a good home. The wine is sure to put a lot of smiles on a lot of faces. The wine is spot on and in the sweet spot for price too, I think.