Nicolas Potel Maison Roche de Bellene Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru Vieilles Vignes 2019 750ml

Producer Profile

About Roche de Bellene
Nicolas Potel’s Boutique négociant company was founded in 2008, allowing him to extend his winemaking vision beyond the appellations he works with at Domaine de Bellene. With a larger spectrum of Burgundy climats, including an impressive array of premier and grand crus, Maison Roche de Bellene offers a broad range of wines made in the same terroir-focused, sustainably- grown, minimal-intervention manner as those of the Domaine. As a youngster growing up at his father’s legendary Domaine de la Pousse d’Or, in Volnay, the ever-adventurous Nicolas traveled up and down the Côte d’Or — on his bicycle — trading wines with growers and establishing lifelong friendships. He has been working continuously with some of those growers ever since he started his first négociant company back in 1998. All of the growers that Roche de Bellene sources from are farming organically or according to the principles of lutte raisonée (“sustainable viticulture”). Nicolas and his long-time winemaking partner, Sylvain Debord, work closely with these growers to make critical decisions about vineyard management practices, crop size, harvest dates and winemaking practices. At harvest, the fruit is processed and fermented in the grower’s winery to minimize the time between picking and processing. Elevage is also done in the grower’s cellar in order to preserve the integrity of the wine’s origin. Final assemblage and bottling of the wines is done at the Roche de Bellene winery in Savigny-lès-Beaune. The name “Bellene” comes from “Belenos,” an ancient Gallic god of sun and beauty. It is the origin of the city name, Beaune, which was called “Belena” in Roman times, and “Bellene” in the Middle Ages.