Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru, Nicolas Potel, 1999, Red wine from France

7 points

For starters, here’s a link to my review of another Pinot Noir from Nicolas Potel – Clos Vouget Grand Cru, 1997: Clos Vougeot Grand Cru, Nicolas Potel, 1997. If you like, please read this review, perhaps even first, because I wrote about Nicolas Potel, his wine-making philosophy, and the area. So I won’t repeat all of that here.

This particular wine of his is from 1999 and comes from vineyards of the area in northern Burgundy called Gevrey-Chambertin, so, still very much in the middle of famous Burgundy wine region.

Pinot_noir_-_Bourgogne_(Santenay).jpg

Some wines of other, perhaps more famous wineries, sell their wines from these vineyards for immense amounts – much more than this wine would cost today, if it were available.

So what! This one is a great and wonderful Pinot Noir, classic, elegant and rich with a unique character. A little bit fruitier than I expected: raspberries, blueberries and currants, but very pure and straightforward, almost no oak nicely balanced with a rather rare mineral basis, mild and suave. The color of this wine is richer and less transparent than usual for classic Burgundy Pinot Noirs.

I believe that one should drink such a wine without food. Though of course any kind of red meat or any cheese suits it very well. Even it is perhaps profane: a good filet of beef would be probably the best for it.

You can probably only buy this wine through an auction or from a wine collector. It is certainly not available in stores anymore, in particular also because of the turbulent life of Nicolas Potel.