March 2015
Domaine Potinet-Ampeau
From the Importer:
“Vincent Durrieu is the fifth generation of this family to work the domain, continuing with very traditional Burgundian methods. Domaine Potinet-Ampeau is one of very few to make wine meant to be laid down and to hold vintages in their own cellars to allow them to age correctly before release. The family had strong ties to the American market as early as the 1920s, when Vincent’s grandmother’s family, winemakers in Meursault, was among the first to export to the US. And it was Vincent’s grandparents who, in 1951, started keeping ‘vins de garde’, so the domain always has an impressive array of older vintages on offer. The Domaine Potinet-Ampeau is situated in the village of Monthelie in the southern part of the Cote de Beaune, near to Meursault, Volnay and Auxey-Duresses.The domain works 21.5 acres and produces as much red as white in appellations in the villages of Puligny-Montrachet, Meursault, Auxey-Duresses, Volnay, Pommard and Monthelie. The vines are on average 30 years old, and the vineyards are plowed (without herbicides) and treated reasonably with natural compounds. In summary:
– Vincent Durrieu is a traditional winemaker and his reds are built for long ageing. He only releases them after several years’ cellaring, so they are often missed by the major reviewers – otherwise they would be far better known
– From a walled vineyard named by Jancis Robinson MW as one of the “great names” of Volnay: Clos des Chênes lies at the southern end of Volnay, where the best wines are found, and produces wines that are “very pure in their expression of fruit” with “the ability to age well” (Clive Coates MW).
– Also on Clos des Chenes, which produces some of the best wines of the region, it is situated south of Volnay and high up on the hillside. It contains a mix of limestone marl and clay-limestone. At the bottom of the vineyard there is more red soil with a higher level of iron and the further up you move the limestone takes over. The vineyard faces southeast and gets steeper further up. Two of the top producers from this vineyard are Domaine des Comtes Lafon and Domaine Michel Lafarge.”
Domaine Potinet-Ampeau Available Here Now
Domaine Potinet-Ampeau Clos des Chenes, Volnay Premier Cru 2001 750ML ($89.95) $59 special