Maison Nicolas Potel Les Teurons, Beaune Premier Cru, France

力高寶德酒莊德隆（伯恩一級園）紅葡萄酒

點擊次數：3024

A site typical smoke and gaminess emerges on the nose of Potel 2006 Beaune Teurons, and meaty, saline, smoky characteristics dominate as well on a handsomely lean, long-lined palate, along with suggestions of fruit pit and chalk. Here is another instance where the alcohol seems supportive though its tannin-ameliorating glycerin. That said, don't look for this impressive concentrate to charm or flatter. I would give it 2-3 years in the cellar, and then expect at least that many again of fascination and usefulness. Nicolas Potel consistently favors promoting ripeness at low potential alcohol and consistently eschews chaptalization. He is also a fan of freshness and clarity in Pinot, while maintaining notably low levels of sulfur. A vintage where a significant share of fruit came in near or above 14% potential alcohol and was shadowed by botrytis was thus a challenge, which seems to have been selectively well met. (For more on the style and methods associated with Maison Nicolas Potel – whose wines are sourced from a mixture of contract fruit and purchased juice – consult my report in issue 171.) Despite the huge number of 2006s I tasted here, incidentally, they did not represent the entire Potel vintage collection. In May, 2009, Potel left the negociant firm that bears his name (and which belongs to the Cottin brothers, owners of Laboure-Roi) to devote himself entirely to his own domaine and negociant operation, Maison Roche de Bellene, which crushed its first grapes with the 2007 vintage (in part from Potel holdings that were showcased in Maison Potel bottlings of vintages 2005 and 2006). Long-time cellarmaster Fabrice Lesne has now assumed direction of Maison Potel. By the way, suggested retail prices for the 2006s here took a sharp downturn vis-a-vis those for the 2005s, an occurrence worth noting for its rarity. (That said, of course the effective, eventual retail prices for all 2006s have turned on market factors that transcended cellar door prices, let alone the parameters envisioned by national importers). Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700

A 2005 Beaune Teurons – from Potel’s own vines – offers a beefy, faintly briny nose, with roasted beet and black cherry on the palate underlain by persistent meat broth, game, and salty, chalky minerality. Silky and refined in texture, this is one of those Pinots that takes you far away from mere fruits and berries, offering a fascinating, exceptionally long finish melding meat and mineral. Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700.