Maison Roche de Bellene

Until 21st January this product is discounted by 20 percent. Price shown includes saving.*
This was our pick between the Clos de Bèze and the Chambertin this year. Middleweight, this has bright, elegant fruit on its refined nose. The wine is attractive, floral, graceful through the middle, then comes up nicely behind. Notably floral, and very persistent.

“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.



*Discount is already applied to the single-bottle price and no further discount will be applied at checkout. 

Until 21st January this product is discounted by 20 percent. Price shown includes saving.*
The 2013 Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze Grand Cru has an attractive mulberry and candied orange peel, touches of wild heather lending a bit of wildness. The oak is nicely integrated here. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannins: masculine with very fine tension on the black pepper-tinged finish that just needs to muster more flesh and corpulence. That may develop in bottle, of course.
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate - eRobertParker.com - Dec 2014


*Discount is already applied to the single-bottle price and no further discount will be applied at checkout. Discount only applies to 75cl bottles and does not apply to any other sizes or formats.

Until 21st January this product is discounted by 30 percent. Price shown includes saving.*
A dense, rich colour, deeper than the Clos de Bèze, and a brilliantly explosive nose. A huge wealth of fruit is evident here, and it is intense, with a thrilling nervous tension. The palate is bursting with both red and black fruit, in this wine of brilliant energy. If the Clos de Bèze is soothing, this is striking.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director

Nicolas Potel has retained the majority of his regular contracts in 2012, though a couple are missing after the hail. Like everybody else, he has had to pay more for his grapes though, especially at the top end of the hierarchy. But as ever there are some delicious wines in the range, and at the lower end the prices are thoroughly competitive.

*Discount is already applied to the single-bottle price and no further discount will be applied at checkout. 

Dense, ripe purple with an exuberant nose, this offers a full, richly fruited mouthful, with attractive detail, weight and good length. The oak is integrating nicely. A very pretty, floral style of Echézeaux.

“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.

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.

Most Exciting -Best Value Burgundy Red - vintage 2008
This is the essence of Vosne: darker, more brooding but cool, precise and inviting on both the nose and palate. Really charming with a rewarding follow-through, this is very tasty indeed for reasonably early drinking.
Simon Staples, Sales Director

Nicolas Potel’s Maison Roche de Bellene excels at creating very classy wines from top vineyards at affordable prices. Fine, clear and light, yet bright in colour, this Vosne-Romanée has a fine red fruit nose, a mix of raspberry and redcurrant, with the lightness of touch from these hillside vineyards. Far from a blockbuster, this delivers elegance with an ethereal touch, fair intensity of flavour and a clean, pure, balanced finish. It is approachable now to 2018
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director

Weighty and ripe with a touch of verbena adding spice to the nose, this is smart wine for the money. The fruit steadily grows in the mouth before the impressive finish that shows hints of lemon grass.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director

Production has recently moved to a new facility on the outskirts of Beaune, which is making life much easier for the Roche de Bellene team. The philosophy stays the same: work with excellent grape sources and get the wines out into the market at competitive prices. The reds have had an excellent following for many a year now, while recently the whites have shown the same impressive price to quality ratio that makes this such a good address.

Roche de Bellene, Grand Cru 2010 is polished and beautifully balanced even it's just slightly timid. Pretty mighty though. Opulent fruit.
Jancis Robinson - jancisrobinson.com

Glowing a brilliant red to purple, this is quite oaky at first sniff, but offers such a great concentration of fruit behind. This is completely fabulous, amazingly sumptuous yet still so refined. There is so much flavour trapped inside that you only really find it all after the event.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director

Maison Roche de Bellene Production has recently moved to a new facility on the outskirts of Beaune, which is making life much easier for the Roche de Bellene team. The philosophy stays the same: work with excellent grape sources and get the wines out into the market at competitive prices. The reds have had an excellent following for many a year now, while recently the whites have shown the same impressive price to quality ratio that makes this such a good address.

In its youth this Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet wine speaks much more on the palate than the nose. There is real weight here with a sensationally silky taffeta texture and plenty more waiting in the wings.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director

Maison Roche de Bellene Production has recently moved to a new facility on the outskirts of Beaune, which is making life much easier for the Roche de Bellene team. The philosophy stays the same: work with excellent grape sources and get the wines out into the market at competitive prices. The reds have had an excellent following for many a year now, while recently the whites have shown the same impressive price to quality ratio that makes this such a good address.

Rich in purple with a tasty whiff of oak and deeply concentrated fruit this Clos St Denis has impressive weight and an amazing rush of energy at the back of the palate. It really is very complete.  
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director

Maison Roche de Bellene Production has recently moved to a new facility on the outskirts of Beaune, which is making life much easier for the Roche de Bellene team. The philosophy stays the same: work with excellent grape sources and get the wines out into the market at competitive prices. The reds have had an excellent following for many a year now, while recently the whites have shown the same impressive price to quality ratio that makes this such a good address.

Just three barrels made this year, and although it is raised in new wood this does not show, thanks to the concentration of the wine. A rich purple colour with very lively red fruit and some raspberry notes, filling out the middle palate vey well, good weight, attractive acid balance. Another excellent Corton, as in recent years. 
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

Nicholas feels that the saving grace of the 2013 vintage was the amount of small berries caused by millerandage. He has opted for minimum extraction but longish cuvaison. The white wines have not been stirred because they were rich enough naturally. They are expected to be bottled in December and will all be under DIAM corks, apart from the Grands Crus. The reds will be bottled during February.

Two barrels were made of this vigorous purple red wine. It has ripe cherry notes and is not heavyweight, but is very appealing. There is a good middle to this, then the structure comes up behind, to confirm that it is going to need time. Happily the ripe cherry fruit returns at the back. 
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

Nicholas feels that the saving grace of the 2013 vintage was the amount of small berries caused by millerandage. He has opted for minimum extraction but longish cuvaison. The white wines have not been stirred because they were rich enough naturally. They are expected to be bottled in December and will all be under DIAM corks, apart from the Grands Crus. The reds will be bottled during February.

Nicolas Potel has crafted a beautifully silky wine from this prestigious Grand Cru in 2012. The 50% new oak is seamlessly integrated, with fruit from 30 year old vines providing pleasing texture and a classy, persistent finish. This wine will develop many complex layers of flavour over the next 10-15 years.
Anne Mc Hale MW - Wine Education Specialist

Les Malconsorts is a wonderful wine from this great Premier Cru vineyard, and has very pretty Vosne-Romanée aromatics, fabulously pure fruit and a refreshingly cleansing minerality.

This is one of those wines that shows its class from the very first sniff. Absolutely delicious, it has perfectly harmonious fruit, and the harmonious oak from high class barrels is in evidence too. It should drink well quite early on but stay the course.

Nicolas thinks this may be the best Combottes he has made since starting in 2008. It certainly has lovely ripe cherry and raspberry notes, with plenty of structure behind. The weight of the wine mingles with tannins in the mouth, lending it power and persistence.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director Nicolas Potel has installed the négociant arm of his business on the Savigny side of town which gives him plenty of space for making and maturing the wines, along with logistics and office needs, while keeping his Domaine de Bellene operation completely separate in Beaune itself. The selling point here is consistent competence mixed with attractive pricing.

This has been a star selection in the cellar since the first vintage (2009). It is a beautiful wine: not too deep and dense with a little touch of oak and a fresh finish. Very stylish, this is a great wine at an amazing price.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director Nicolas Potel has installed the négociant arm of his business on the Savigny side of town which gives him plenty of space for making and maturing the wines, along with logistics and office needs, while keeping his Domaine de Bellene operation completely separate in Beaune itself. The selling point here is consistent competence mixed with attractive pricing.

---

Dark and brooding on nose, typical Malconsorts class. Lovely lush bright fruit on the palate, but still dark fruit for Vosne’ and huge and brooding, more to come. Loads of ripe grippy tannins to balance the weight of fruit. All there, but will need some time to knit, will be superb.
Chris Pollington, Private Account Manager

Burgundy 2009 Best Buys - Village Red Wines 
Very Volnay, it is full of lovely, fragrant red berry fruit, underpinned by a serious, textured structure. This is Premier Cru quality, and one of the best bargains of the vintage.
(David Jones, Cellar Plan Account Manager)

This is, as ever, a classic cuvée from Nicolas Potel. It has immediate charm on the nose and is full of fruit, making it a striking village Volnay wine.
(Jasper Morris MW, BBR Buyer)

This Vosne-Romanée, Les Malconsorts from Roche de Bellene is a combination of two cuvées producing a wine greater than the sum of its parts, which is deep and dense with an exquisite finish.

This Vosne-Romane from Roche de Bellene has a lovely ethereal bouquet and is a quintessentially elegant Burgundy. There is a beautifully fragrant and graceful thread running through the palate with a delicate scent of rose petals.

This was sufficiently reduced to hide everything but the wood though its influence on the palate was considerably less if not invisible. The rich, minerally and utterly delicious medium-bodied flavors possess a subtle minerality that continues onto the mouth coating finish where the wood resurfaces. I suspect that this reasonably well-balanced effort will always display some wood influence but not enough to affect the finishing texture.
Allen Meadows - burghound.com - May 2011

Until 31st August this product is discounted by 30%*
Bright purple, the fruit on the nose is immediately charming, continuing with intensity on the palate, linear and detailed, just ripe enough. Good fruit acid balance and persistent. Really classic for this year, elegant yet focussed. 
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

Nicholas feels that the saving grace of the 2013 vintage was the amount of small berries caused by millerandage. He has opted for minimum extraction but longish cuvaison. The white wines have not been stirred because they were rich enough naturally. They are expected to be bottled in December and will all be under DIAM corks, apart from the Grands Crus. The reds will be bottled during February.

*Discount already applied to product price. No further discount will be applied at checkout.

Imperial purple robe. The nose stands up to be counted, with some intense raspberry notes. Statuesque but light on its feet, easily in balance with the final tannins.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director

Maison Roche de Bellene Production has recently moved to a new facility on the outskirts of Beaune, which is making life much easier for the Roche de Bellene team. The philosophy stays the same: work with excellent grape sources and get the wines out into the market at competitive prices. The reds have had an excellent following for many a year now, while recently the whites have shown the same impressive price to quality ratio that makes this such a good address.

Medium purple, displaying a really brilliant, lively red fruit nose that is explosive and exciting. On the palate this is a middleweight Corton, with more elegance than the chunkier style which some offer.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director

Nicolas Potel has retained the majority of his regular contracts in 2012, though a couple are missing after the hail. Like everybody else, he has had to pay more for his grapes though, especially at the top end of the hierarchy. But as ever there are some delicious wines in the range, and at the lower end the prices are thoroughly competitive.

Fine brisk, glowing purple, a really enticing colour before you get on to the nose, a touch of blackberry though otherwise predominantly red fruit notes. Soft and suave and succulent but with presence and structure. Very long finish. A great result.
(Jasper Morris MW, BBR Buyer)

Fine bright red; some plums, some deep red fruit, a little tannin. There’s enough to attract now but it should really have a little more time.
(Jasper Morris MW, BBR Buyer)

The Roche de Bellene team deliver great value in white wines as well as reds. This comes from an excellent hillside vineyard and is full of fruit on the palate with a lovely crisp finish.
(Jasper Morris MW, BBR Burgundy Buyer - June 2012)

From 25-year-old vines in this excellent hillside site, this is a tight and lean Meursault from Roche de Bellene, yet it retains real character. The wonderful purity is complemented by complexity and there is an engaging liveliness.
(Jasper Morris MW, BBR Burgundy Buyer - Apr 2010)