(from vines planted in 1904) Medium red. Very closed nose hints at spicy oak and iron. The palate conveys an old-viney creaminess to the blackberry and black cherry flavors, but the pronounced oakiness currently blocks the wine's purity. Finishes long and spicy, though, with serious structure. This got 50% new oak, whereas the rest normally aged in 20% new barriques

The Bellene 2008 Beaune Greves is scented with fresh leather and ripe, lightly-cooked black raspberry, which follow on a palate whose tannins are slightly stiff (influenced no doubt by recent bottling) and whose finish is at once sweet in fruit character yet reveals a slight drying spot. I suspect this will prove to be worth keeping for up to a decade but would want to revisit it soon. Nicolas Potel (for more about whose new negociant project see under “Roche de Bellene”) began forming his domaine in 2005, and the fruit he vinified from its first two vintages was bottled under the label of Maison Nicolas Potel, which had become a subsidiary of Laboure-Roi in 2003 and with which since last year Potel is no longer affiliated. His original intention, unsurprisingly, was to begin marketing these wines under the name “Domaine Nicolas Potel” or “Domaine Potel,” but equally unsurprisingly, this would require an understanding with the owners of Maison Nicolas Potel and its trademark, and may presume that is unlikely without a legal struggle. Meantime, Potel has adopted “Bellene,” an ancient name for the city of Beaune. Farming biodynamically, and operating from an imposing former Cistercian press house just outside the old walls of the city, Potel has rapidly expanded his holdings (in white as well as red) and will be adding some prestigious new appellations with the 2009 and 2010 vintages. I tasted the 2008s here (in March) just after bottling, so allowances should be made for the possibility that they were suffering from this. (I could perhaps in fairness have added a “+?” after every 2008 entry.) No U.S. importer has yet been named for these wines.