December 28, 2023 - Was very tasty with a bit of air in the glass! Earthy undertones, with some nice baking spice and cherry I liked it!
March 24, 2023 - Deep ruby to garnet. Dark red fruit, a whiff of smoke, densely silky. Some depth here, still some structure to resolve. Not quite a foresquare as a previous bottle eighteen months ago, but definitely nodding towards the Pommard side of Volnay. Getting there, but time in hand. ***1/2
November 20, 2022 - If you have one, you should drink it. It is showing very well.
June 4, 2022 - Even better than the bottle last year. I got the bonfire smell with anise for a time, otherwise as before yet a bigger bodied version.
November 18, 2021 - 1990s Burgundy, second attempt (Noize): I found this sufficiently bonfirey that I might blame reduction, although many/all of the others at dinner didn't find this a problem. Black truffle, mothballs, dark fruit. Rather serious and with good length. I kept wondering if this would come out of its shell, but that didn't quite happen.
November 7, 2021 - Bought with a bottle of Caillerets for £140 the pair from someone who recently opened the cases. Allowed to rest for a couple of months. Lovely nose that at first seemed Bordeaux like then complex and quickly changing including redcurrants to undergrowth and finally anise. Medium bodied and surprisingly dark.Tannins fully resolved and still there to provide good structure. Length seems a touch short until you realise minutes later that you've still got the aftertaste. Seems to be at the perfect age to drink now. Excellent.
August 26, 2021 - Solid cork. Medium red. Showing its proximity to Pommard on the nose - earthy, a little foresquare, lacking in nuance and floral / perfume notes. The fruit on the palate has good depth - quite dark. Chewy. Just the beginnings of underbrush and leafy notes. Nicely ripe. Some gentle tannin in the cheeks - but otherwise well integrated. Got sweeter with time in the glass. Very Pitures I would suggest. A little more nuanced and interesting the next day. Volnay Pitures is nobody’s favorite wine for a good reason but this is a fine example holding up well. Bought on release for a very fair price.
August 7, 2021 - Finally got round to having a first look at Potel 99 Volnay 1ers, starting with the Pitures. Lovely colour. A slight earthiness to the subdued red fruit on the nose. Silky smooth, pretty much fully resolved on the palate, a slightly foursquare feel on the mid palate that might nod towards its Pommard proximity, and decent enough if slightly short finish. No fireworks but a satisfying and pleasant drink that was well worth the 20 quid back in 2005. Quite a lot of fine sludgy sediment in the bottom of the bottle, so careful with the last pour or two. ***
May 8, 2020 - Day later from memory. I can't even guess how many bottles of Burgundy, red and white, I've consumed over the past 15 years before they had a chance to develop real secondary character. It's due I suppose to a combination of impatience and curiosity and love of the primary attributes of these wines. Said another way, I just decided to drink them early and paid the iron price-seizing them from my cellar before their time.
As a result, my appreciation for and exposure to the rewards of aged, mature Burgundy have suffered. House Potel, represented here, could in and of itself merit a storyline in GOT, but we won't rehash that now. I had no great expectations for this bottle, last of its line, but assumed it would be fully developed at age 21.
I coerced my son, who early on in his wine exploration has acquired a taste for the savory, to join me on this voyage. It being 24 hours later I regret the lack of a formal note, but we agreed it was resplendent in its autumn beauty.
Clear browning on visual inspection. Only fleeting plummy fruit notes mingled with forest floor and mushroom, and though the tannins were softened to the point of futility, lively acids played across the tongue and gave it a spry impression that belied its approaching slide into senescence.
I see below that others have declared this wine dead in 2014. I would submit they either had off bottles or prefer the orchard or berry patch to a walk in the woods. I can't argue with their taste, but for me, this has a few years of contemplative pleasure still to give. Grant me the strength to keep my mitts off some of my remaining Burgs.
March 13, 2016 - After reading other review notes here, I decided to go conservatively with the decant regiment. Cork was sound and clean and a small initial taste good. Let the bottle stay open for about an hr. and transferred to a clean bottle to remove any potential sediment (minimal). The wine had a tart red fruit aroma that quickly evolved in the glass. There was also a light tinge of bottle funk which seem to be reduced with air exposure and ultimately blew off. More powerful secondary aromas included dry leafs, Iron and slight tartness of dried fruit and prunes. The texture was medium and a little more rustic than the aromas indicated and i suspect that the tannin's were not fully softened which is not totally surprising given the vintage. The wine appearance became much softer with food (Papardelli with wild mushrooms and panceta). Ovearll the wine improved over the hour or so that we drank it. Should continue to improve for at least another 3-5 years maybe longer, at which point I suspect my current conservative ratings would go up by 1or 2 points. From CT notes there seems to be a lot of variance -this bottle originally imported by Adventure in wine CA and properly stored since release.