Winemaker Notes
This is no ordinary Cote de Nuits-Villages. Potel owns this parcel, hence the "Domaine" moniker. Organically farmed, 74-year-old vines in the limestone-rich soils of the village of Comblanchien, which is just south of Nuits-Saint-Georges. Jancis Robinson captures the wine’s personality well: "liqueur-like aromas of blue Pinot fruit, plum and game. Otherwise the medium weight flavors possess a beguiling texture as the dense extract both coats the palate and pushes the moderately firm tannins to the background on the remarkably persistent finish where traces of rusticity and warmth arrive." Perfect for near term drinking, especially when double decanted. Superb value for lovers of earthy Burgundies.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
“Bitter in the most delicious ways,” said one of the panelists, pointing to the cherry-skin flavors and herbal notes of thyme. It looks south, to the Mediterranean, with its sour-plum density of fruit and fresh-herb acidity. The concentrated old-vine fruit will take well to a few years of bottle age.
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Wine Spectator
This red is laced with succulent cherry, plum, spice and smoke flavors. Round and backed by light tannins, this delivers a harmonious impression. Fine length too. Drink now.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Maison Roche de Bellene Côte de Nuits-Villages Vieille Vignes is on point with its flavors, style, and balance. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers razor-sharp aromas and flavors of tart cherries and other red fruits. Serve it with a lightly-seasoned fillet mignon. (Tasted: August 27, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
The origin of perhaps the world’s very finest Pinot Noir, Côte de Nuits is the northern half of the Côte d'Or and includes the famous wine villages of Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-St-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot, Vosne-Romanée, Flagey-Echezeaux and Nuits-St-Georges.
Fine whites from Chardonnay are certainly found in the Côte de Nuits, but with much less frequency than top-performing reds made of Pinot noir. The little village of Nuits-St-Georges in its southern end gave the region its name: Côte de Nuits. The city of Dijon marks its northern border.