Maison Roche de Bellene

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.
 

Lovely bright mid-purple with a very stylish nose, including plenty of new wood. Exuberant on the palate, with the oak showing a bit, but it also has lift and class. Alpine strawberries and raspberries abound. A delicious wine from a great vineyard.
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.

Burgundy 2012 En Primeur - Staff Favourite
Intense, ripe, dark and spicy. Huge depth and concentration across the broad, mouth filling palate. Fine acidity provides the vibrancy and drive. A very fine Grand Cru combining charm and finesse with extreme power. Patience required to see the best here.
Martyn Rolph, Fine Wine

This has been a favourite Roche de Bellene cuvée for a while. The 2012 has a beautiful fresh mid-purple colour, with a sublime, balanced, heady nose, that’s very floral and exquisitely poised. Fine-boned, precise red fruit on the palate, with some tannins behind to lend support and just enough acidity to complete the balance of the wine.
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.

Bin end – limited quantities at a discounted price.

What a beautiful perfume! Layers of highly detailed blue and red fruits reveal a deep rooted sweet spice. This is effortlessly echoed on the palate, where further fruit complexity of Damsons and Plums show a darker side.
Gary Owen, Private Account Manager

Quite elegant, this has plump fruit on the palate before a mineral finish. It is an attractive wine with harmonious, balancing acidity.
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.

---

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.

A rich, bright purple in colour, this has dense concentration of dark raspberry fruit. It is very intense on the palate with a relatively firm structure that promises longevity. Lovely fresh finish behind. 
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.

A beautifully heady nose of wild strawberries announces this wine. The enormous fruit through the middle is pure velvet, and is followed by a fabulous finish with balancing tannins.
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.

---

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

Lovely fresh colour with little green tints. Exuberant fruit on the nose, and again in the mouth, backed by an excellent acidity, this is a complex, balanced wine that is very classy and has superb length.  Only 150 bottles produced but so good that we had to have some. 
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.

There is unquestioning nobility to the nose of this imperial purple wine. It is very powerful and very intense with a backbone of steel. Concentrated, full red, not black, fruit fills the mouth. It displays dramatic intensity and a great sense of nervous tension. This is a superb example of Chambertin.
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.

---

The 2013 Chambertin Grand Cru is much more open on the nose than the Clos-de-Bèze with blackberry and briary notes, a Chambertin determined to impress (which it certainly does!) The palate is medium-bodied with strawberry and raspberry preserve, fine, almost filigree tannins and a sensual finish that completes one of Nicolas Potel’s best reds. If you cannot afford Armand R, there is always Nicky P.
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate - eRobertParker.com - Dec 2014

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.

Initially restrained with a brooding intensity, this wine has huge weight on the palate, complemented by a massive, rich, density of fruit and all the flesh of the vintage. The flavours keep on developing in the glass with an electric concentration. This is a very heady, succulent wine.
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.

---

The nose shows such concentration that it's hard to make out the detail but it is not only massively concentrated but really classy. The volume is sensational here and the acidity is lurking. This wine will continue to build during its remaining time in barrel and will provide a great experience of Montrachet in the long term.
Jasper Morris MW - Burgundy Wine Director

 

The 2013 Montrachet Grand Cru, which comes from the Puligny side courtesy of a cask purchased before malolactic, has a pebbly, slightly flinty bouquet. The palate is taut and linear, citric at the moment but terse and laconic on the finish. There is great tension and nervosité, but it needs to find more to say. There are no marks for the label and to be frank, I preferred the Meursault Perrières tasted just prior to this.
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate - eRobertParker.com - Dec 2014

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.

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.

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

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

From a first class vintage, this Clos des Chênes is still a remarkably youthful colour, with a wonderfully lively fruit on both nose and palate. Impeccably balanced, it bears the hallmark of the 2010 vintage, with a racy dark fruit finish. It will certainly develop very well but it is too tempting to try now. 
Jasper Morris MW, 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.

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.

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.

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.