2005 Nicolas Potel Bourgogne Cuvée Gérard Potel

Type: Red
Producer: Nicolas Potel
Variety: Pinot Noir
Designation: Cuvée Gérard Potel
Country: France
Region: Burgundy
Appellation: Bourgogne
Price: $20
From: Bin Ends Wine, as part of Twitter Taste Live



The Little Wooden Guy is pleased to present a good $20 pinot, and from Burgendy, no less.

Night One

The nose opens with some funk, not 'huge barnyard' funk, but certainly 'more serious pinot than you'd expect at this price point' funk. Red fruits follow closely behind the funk, cherries and cherry pits, plus deeply bruised strawberries.

The palate opens with the same red fruit, cherries and bruised strawberries, plus some added rhubarb tartness. The fruit all floats above an earthy base of truffles and loam. The mid-palate is coppery, with the fruit morphing to drier cranberry. The finish is moderately long, the tannins firm but silky.

Night Two

This wine underwent huge changes on the nose from Night One to Night Two. On Night Two, the opening aromas include brambles, marjoram and fennel, along with ripe bruised strawberries. It is definitely more complex than on Night One.

It has a lot more to offer the palate on Night Two as well. First, the classic pinot arc, the tendency of pinot to grow, expand, even explode with new layers of flavor after the initial attack (compared to, for example, Malbec, that opens big then fades to the finish). The initial attack is mild, red fruit far softer than on Night One, tart cherries and pomegranate. On the mid-palate, though, it rips through several layers of additional flavors. First is fennel, then sweeter cherries, then even more tart cranberry, all with just a little sprinkling of sage and marjoram. Toward the finish a real meaty flavor, not smoked meat or bacon, but red bloody beef, joins the fruit. The finish is meaty, fruity, and long.

This is good wine and a great QPR (bang for the buck).

2004 Nicolas Potel Savigny-lès-Beaune Vieilles Vignes

Type: Red
Producer: Nicolas Potel
Variety: Pinot Noir
Designation: Vieilles Vignes
Country: France
Region: Burgundy
SubRegion: Côte de Beaune
Appellation: Savigny-lès-Beaune
From Bin Ends Wine as part of Twitter Taste Live



The Little Wooden Guy finds this wine a bit confusing. It underwent huge changes from Night One to Night Two, and seemed incredibly tight. It was good on Night One, but a little tight. It was nowhere near as good on Night Two, and a lot tighter, actually offering promise of being better than it showed on Night One. At a $28 price point, it is probably best to treat this as a "drink now," but if you buy half a case or more, hide one away at the back of the cellar or closet, and maybe you will have a pleasant surprise in a few years.

Night One

The nose open with the light barnyard funk that often promises something good to come. It is not overwhelming fresh barnyard, more like one you walk into and just know, "animals used to live here." Red fruit comes to the nose behind the funk, cherries and strawberries, and a touch of cranberry. It also has a touch of smoky meatiness, a little bit like the crisp end of a prime rib. The nose also offers up clear minerality, a sense of crushed limestone, like walking through a quarry.

Red fruit dominates the palate, tart, not sweet, like tiny wild cherries and strawberries. The flavors get deeper and broader as it goes through the classic pinot arc. The mid-palate adds some sage and a rich smoked meat flavor, more like rich fatty dark smoked duck than like bacon. Tannins hit home on the finish, tight and dry. The finish is rather long, but drops just short of a sense of "this goes on forever."

The wine still seems tight, all bound up in tartness and tannins, offering a glimpse of what it might be with more time in the cellar. It should be interesting to see if Night Two verifies the future promise, or if it falls short.

Night Two

The fruit on the nose is red, but very light. Crushed rock minerality is quite strong. Fruit is strawberry and cranberry. It also has just a touch of sweet pickle and sage.

The fruit on the palate is definitely red, but it's hard to put my finger on it. Cherries are there for sure, but the strawberries are gone. There is something there a bit tart and sour, ... RHUBARB! Yup, rhubarb. It also has that tiny touch of sweet pickle from the nose. Crushed limestone shows up on the mid-palate. The rich smoked meatiness from Night One is gone. Florals, lavender I think, show up late, on the finish and a good ten to twenty seconds after you drink it.

This wine is simply tight, very tight. I think it might benefit from some more time in the cellar.