2002 Clos de la Roche

Nicolas Potel, who does not like to chaptalize, told me that most of his 2007s are between 12% and 12.5%, with no sugar or acidity added. I was struck by their purity of fruit, even those cuvees Potel vinified with a high percentage of whole clusters. As a group, these wines show the tangy quality that makes the best 2007s so sexy. Potel believes that the various village wines in 2007 are "well marked" by their sites, and that fewer of his wines show a strong signature of their maker than in the past. He had bottled several of his reds in July and was racking most of the rest of them into tank when I tasted in early November. He planned to bottle in January and February, without filtration.

Potel told me he now vinifies about 80% of his huge number of appellations; the edited selection of 30 or so wines I tasted was probably barely half of the red wine cuvees he'll offer in 2005. Potel believes that 2005 shows even better purity and integration of its elements than 1999. "They're not monsters, but they're a step beyond 1999, even on the Cote de Beaune," he said. "Anyway, I prefer the vibrant vintages, the ones with a little less fat." Potel vinified his grand crus with 100% whole clusters, and most of the rest were done with 80%. The malos finished early, and the wines were all racked in April or May "because they were so big." At the time of my visit, most of these 2005s seemed ready to be bottled, and some were already finished. Most of the premier crus will be pleasant to drink within four or five years, with the grand crus best held for seven or eight. (Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY) Also recommended: Gevrey-Chambertin (86), Pommard Les Rugiens (86).

Nicolas Potel considers 2003 to be a better vintage than 2004, but admits that 2004 is more classic. In fact, he told me, 2004, 2002 and 2001 are all fairly similar and typical in their terroir definition and sound acidity levels. In the wines he vinified (and he told me he only buys fruit from the Cote de Beaune, not wine), Potel eliminated as much of the 2004 lees as possible through what he described as "a saignee of the shit," while wines he purchased "came to this cellar completely clean. "In order to get a bit more volume in the fermenter, Potel vinified his smallest lots with whole clusters.

Nicolas Potel considers 2003 to be a better vintage than 2004, but admits that 2004 is more classic. In fact, he told me, 2004, 2002 and 2001 are all fairly similar and typical in their terroir definition and sound acidity levels. In the wines he vinified (and he told me he only buys fruit from the Cote de Beaune, not wine), Potel eliminated as much of the 2004 lees as possible through what he described as "a saignee of the shit," while wines he purchased "came to this cellar completely clean. "In order to get a bit more volume in the fermenter, Potel vinified his smallest lots with whole clusters.

"The 2003 vintage fits well with my style:no acid," said Nicolas Potel before showing me a broad selection of his young wines (he vinified about 40 of his roughly 60 red wine cuvees himself).Potel, who never acidifies, believes that those who did add acid may have been surprised by how strong their acids turned out to be."The wines are pure and natural, with no sugar added and very little SO2.You really need to go back to 1988 to find grapes as lovely as those of 2003.We threw out virtually nothing."Nor did Potel destem in 2003: virtually all of his vinifications were with whole clusters."The wines loved air, they needed air, they liked being moved, which is a good sign for the vintage," said Potel, who racked a few of his wines because he found them too heavy, too thick-unlike the 2002s and 2001s."I'm not a fan of huge wines," Potel added, "but in 2003 the biggest wines are also the best."

Although my annual barrel tasting with Nicolas Potel is a three-hour affair, I actually see fewer than half of the wines this energetic young negociant offers. Potel has more than 100 cuvees in 2001, and he emphasized that he actually vinified no fewer than 65 wines in 2002. Potel describes 2001 as "my best year yet in the sense of vinifying in the style of the year. It's a very classic, high-level vintage for the connoisseur, like 1993, but perhaps with more power and a bit less acidity." Tasting here can be a bit tricky since Potel does not add SO2 to the wines until a month prior to the bottling. Moreover, some finished wines have had a tendency to show rather odd wood aromas that were not apparent while the wines were in barrel. Potel told me in November that he used no barrels older than '99 origin to age his 2001s, but that when he raised the '99s and '98s he did use barrels that had previously been used more than twice. And he noted that he threw away his wooden vats after the 2001 harvest, replacing them with stainless steel. These are generally sweet, expressive wines best suited for early to mid-term drinking.

Although my annual barrel tasting with Nicolas Potel is a three-hour affair, I actually see fewer than half of the wines this energetic young negociant offers. Potel has more than 100 cuvees in 2001, and he emphasized that he actually vinified no fewer than 65 wines in 2002. Potel describes 2001 as "my best year yet in the sense of vinifying in the style of the year. It's a very classic, high-level vintage for the connoisseur, like 1993, but perhaps with more power and a bit less acidity." Tasting here can be a bit tricky since Potel does not add SO2 to the wines until a month prior to the bottling. Moreover, some finished wines have had a tendency to show rather odd wood aromas that were not apparent while the wines were in barrel. Potel told me in November that he used no barrels older than '99 origin to age his 2001s, but that when he raised the '99s and '98s he did use barrels that had previously been used more than twice. And he noted that he threw away his wooden vats after the 2001 harvest, replacing them with stainless steel. These are generally sweet, expressive wines best suited for early to mid-term drinking.