Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All Vintages
Today, it is in the selection, vinification, and aging of their finest wines that Maison Nicolas Potel winemaker Brigitte Putzu focuses all of her attention on. Her time working side by side with Nicolas Potel and her knowledge of Burgundy's exceptional terroirs and incredibly diverse vineyards, allows her to select, vinify, and bring her assurance of quality to a large array of appellations and varietal wines.
Maison Nicolas Potel has built its international reputation by making wines from the most beautiful vineyards of the Burgundy region. Their appellation Villages, Premiers Crus and Grand Crus are recommended all over the world due to their purity of style, their authentic appellations and native lands. They adhere to sustainable viticulture, sourcing some fruit from 35+ year old vineyards, grapes from biodynamic and organic vineyards when possible, and from long-time grower partners. Brigitte follows the bio-dynamic calendar and creates wines in their style, either on root days or on fruit days, in order to respect the best of their individuality. Traditional winemaking, with very little intervention during the winemaking process, fermentation with only natural yeasts, limited use of oak / partial malolactic fermentation. Simply stated, these are delicious, fruit-forward wines to enjoy!
Celebrated as some of the best wine in the universe, red wine from Burgundy, otherwise known as red Burgundy, is Pinot noir. In fact Burgundy is the birthplace of Pinot noir and the source of the planet’s most sensual, delicate, valuable and sought-after Pinot noir wines.
Understanding and enjoying red Burgundy can stay simple, with a basic knowledge of its subregions, become more intricate by dialing down to the villages and vineyards or become a life-long passion, exploring climats (plots of vines), vintages and the post French Revolution land ownership laws. In any case, a fine red Burgundy will display refined nuances of black currant, red fruit, earth, spice, alluring floral aromatics and have great elegance, complexity and longevity.
Most famous, praised and collected of Burgunday are those from the Côte d'Or. Hundreds of millions of years ago, the area now called Côte d'Or was under a warm ocean whose sea floor has, over time, shifted and decomposed into various layers of limestone, sandstone and clay interspersed with ancient fossilized sea creatures. This is what is referred to as the famous escarpment upon which all of the highly sought-after Grands Crus and Premiers Crus vineyards can be found. In other words, from north to south, the best vineyards of Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-St-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot, Vosne-Romanée, Flagey-Echezeaux, Nuits-St-Georges, Aloxe-Corton, Pommard and Volnay follow the path of this ancient sea bed.