Our tasting impressions
Everything you want and expect from an elite Grand Cru. Elegance, richness, purity and restrained power. This is in its early stage drinking window but still seems youthful and primary. The finish is long and memorable. Truly a rare, glorified and memorable experience! This should be very long-lived and display brilliant mature flavors as it develops.
About this wine
I forget the name of the place; I forget the name of the girl; but the wine….was Chambertin.
(Hilaire Belloc)
Le Chambertin is one of the truly great Burgundy Grand Crus, which is why it became the suffix for the Gevrey appellation. The prized vineyard is 12 hectares of stony soil with excellent drainage.
Gevrey-Chambertin, in the Northern end of Burgundy’s Côte de Nuits might be its best known and most popular appellation for Pinot Noir.
About the grape
Pinot Noir is an ancient grape from eastern France. Notoriously challenging, it thrives in cooler climates. The concept of terroir is most closely identified with Burgundy because the lightness of Pinot Noir enables it to so transparently express minor differences (which is why experienced tasters can discern the difference in wines produced from vineyards in very close proximity). Intense popularity resulted in plantings all over the world but most agree that its finest expression is in the Côte d’Or of Burgundy.
About the vintage
An excellent vintage in which Pinot Noir yields were extremely low due to millerandes (small grapes). As a result, wines are capable of great intensity. It was a year of ample acidity, fine balance and real terroir transparency.
Suggested Glassware: Grassl Cru
Roche de Bellene was established in 2008 by Nicolas Potel. It is a diversified and global wine production and trading company. The company includes Domaine de Roche Bellene, which offers wines from estate owned vineyards in 10 different Côte d’Or appellations.
Maison Roche de Bellene is the company’s négociant arm. Potel and his team source grapes from respected and consistent sources throughout the Côte d’Or. All are very old vines from which Roche de Bellene produces white and red wines. Another part of the Maison operation is Collection Bellenum. In the first decade of the 2000’s, Potel began purchasing large quantities of outstanding wines from the personal cellars of 26 domaines, starting with 1959. A wine must be at least 10 years old to be included in this special collection. After extensive tasting to ensure the wines were sound and of high-quality, he offers them with his label. Some of the corks will reveal the seminal source.
Nico is the son of the legendary Volnay producer, Gerard Potel. In addition to learning “at home,” he trained at excellent estates in Australia, California and Burgundy. Potel is widely respected by his peers for his remarkable wine production talents, as well as his keen sense for sourcing grapes and wines.
