Roche & Domaine de Bellene

RIP our friend Nicolas who died on 27th June 2025. Born and bred in Burgundy, Nicolas Potel, was the man behind Roche de Bellene, and described himself as a ‘Haute Couture’ negoçe (merchant). He also assembled his own 26 ha of vineyards with those wines going under his Domaine de Bellene label, Bellene being a Latin name for Beaune.

With these two hats on, Nicolas fielded an impressive range of wines, with us selecting our favourites each year to offer to our customers. Roche de Bellene supplies our Tanners Red Burgundy. Nicolas had all the contacts necessary to buy top quality grapes and wine, even barrels of illustrious grand cru wines from top growers. Many of these links dated from the days that his father, Gérard Potel, managed Domaine de la Pousse d’Or in Volnay and was a leading figure in the rise of domaine-bottled burgundies. Nicolas was always brim-full of ideas, his infectious energy always spilling into plenty of new projects and wines. Under the direction of his children, Alphonse and Antonia, sustainability will remain high on the agenda, whether it is working the vineyards organically or in the design of their winery which occupies 16th century, once military, buildings in Beaune. With its heart in the Côte de Beaune, this is also a great source of wines from the Côte Chalonnaise and the Côte de Nuits.