2014 Vosne-Romanée, Les Beaux Monts, 1er Cru, Maison Roche de Bellene, Burgundy
- Red
- Dry
- Medium Bodied
- Pinot Noir
Ready, but will improve
- Neal Martin MW
- 91/100
Product: 20148020473
Description
Medium deep, bright purple with a healthy heady nose, the use of some whole bunches adds a touch of zest. There follows good, ripe, berry fruit, lively and attractive, more raspberry than strawberry in flavour. The acidity is well harnessed, and the finish admirably persistent. This offers remarkable value in 2014.
“A vintage of pure happiness,” enthuses Nicolas Potel. He rightly retains enthusiasm for Burgundy as a whole and his own wines in particular, though his life has been made more difficult by the explosion of prices for grapes on the open market. However these cuvées make sense to us: we tasted a wide range and picked out the plums.
“A vintage of pure happiness,” enthuses Nicolas Potel. He rightly retains enthusiasm for Burgundy as a whole and his own wines in particular, though his life has been made more difficult by the explosion of prices for grapes on the open market. However these cuvées make sense to us: we tasted a wide range and picked out the plums.
Colour Red
Sweetness Dry
Vintage 2014
Alcohol % 13.5
Maturity Ready, but will improve
Grape List Pinot Noir
Body Medium Bodied
Producer Maison Roche de Bellene
Critics reviews
Neal Martin MW 91/100
The 2014 Vosne-Romane 1er Cru les Beaux Monts comes across as quite placid on the nose, holding something back perhaps, certainly not as outgoing as some of Nicolas Potel's other 2014s. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, ripe red and black fruit on the entry, a pinch of white pepper and clove, a gentle grip on the finish. This is a comparatively understated, almost nonchalant Vosne-Romane, but it draws you back for another sip.Neil Martin - 28/04/2016
About this wine
Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or. Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.
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Maison Roche de Bellene
Nicolas Potel decided to set up his own négociant business after the death of his father in 1996 and the subsequent sale of Domaine Pousse d`Or which his father had been managing. The Nicolas Potel label became an excellent source of predominantly red wines, from Bourgogne Rouge to the Grands Crus of the Cote de Nuits. His hallmark has been to make wines which respect both their vineyard provenance and the style of the vintage while remaining attractively priced. Suffering from a lack of capital, he sold the business to the Cottin brothers of Labouré-Roi in 2004, continuing as before until he parted company with his new owners in spring 2009. Instead he has developed his own Domaine de Bellene and negociant business Maison Roche de Bellene in Beaune. Maison Roche de Bellene has been thriving in its new setting, expanding white wine production with the same high standards and competitive pricing as the reds. An associated company is Collection Bellenum, a label Nicolas uses for sourcing parcels of older Burgundy wines from capable producers who have squirrelled away various gems from their best vineyards.
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