Would love some clarification.
Don’t believe so. Robert Ampeau is run by Michael Ampeau and Potinent Ampeau is run by Vincent Durrieu.
Funny thing, I was just looking at this earlier today.
mistakenly bought a case of 93 Charmes and Perrieres thinking I was buying the R. Ampeau, which I love.
but the 93 Charmes is pretty darned good.
I’ve had both (quite some time ago now, like early 2000s) and was impressed equally. So you should be confident acquiring the Potinet version is not a bad mistake.
Had several of the 93 PA Perrieres over the last year. All were excellent. Enjoy.
Have had a couple of bottles each of Potinet-Ampeau’s '71 Meursault and '78 Volnay ‘Santenots’ this year. Both outstanding.
Though the two estates come from a common patrimony (ie, inheritance) there is no other real connection, except the following.
I believe that these two estates were “founded” by two brothers: Robert and his brother. They share common holdings: Meursault Charmes/Perriereres; Volnay Santenay and Auxey “Les Duresses”, in red. (Robert’s wife brought their Pomard and Beaune Clos du Roi to the Robert estate).
It seems that both estates hold back releasing wines for several years behind the rest of the market and are, therefore, both good sources of older vintages, as their releases bear little relation to the market’s releases.
I have never had a Potinet wine, but have visited the Robert Ampeau estate many times and have had many of their wines over the years. Always a treat (and some of the “off” vintages of the '70s have provided some real education about dismissing vintages with bad reputations …or even growing conditions.)
When Robert Ampeau died, his son, Michel, with whom he worked for years and years, took over (maybe he was “in charge” before that by some criteria. ) Michel has never married, lives at the estate and probably has little other life than his winemaking. And, he has a lovely sense of humor, so he is seemingly modest (he is) about the wines and doesn’t take the tasting, etc. all that seriously. (Tasting there is already difficult enough, with older vintages, refrigerator temperatures and frigid cellars to freeze the tasters (We were there on Bastille Day in 1990 and needed sweaters). Both Robert and Michel love to talk and tell jokes while one is tasting, making it even more difficult to concentrate and taste. (As a result, I’ve often asked to buy the rest of bottles…and was given them, instead.)
To answer the query on this thread, the families that control both estates are cousins (I think first cousins). I don’t think Michel would consider it a breech of confidence…at least I hope not. He told me in 2007 that, since he has no children or family, that the wines (and presumably the vast inventory)of Robert/Michel Ampeau wines would revert back to his cousins someday. Since much of their holdings overlap and must have come from their grandparents, I guess that this is apt.
But…as far as I can tell…the estates and their wines, up to this point, have little in common other than holding back vintages and their holdings. Since I don’t know enough about the methods at Potinet and haven’t tried any wines, I don’t know about the relative quality or the winemaking.
But…I assume it is good stuff. Like with the rest of Burgundy…precise names of estates are key. I learned that early on with purchases of Bernard (instead of Daniel) Rion and of Georges (instead of Robert) Chevillon…when I was looking for their wines after tasting them in the mid-80s. They did make for some good laughs when I finally got it right and started visiting the “right” estates.
Ampeau wines are, for me, always a treat. I loved the '83 reds Chez Robert/Michel, but their importer couldn’t sell them, as they had sediment mysteriously suspended in them…that wouldn’t fall by gravity for some reason. At least I was able to buy some…even if it wasn’t comercially viable. Wish I had more of it.
I was under the impression that Robert Ampeau no longer exists, having been acquired by Nicholas Potel. I was also told that Potel has been releasing some of Ampeau’s older stock under the Potel label. Any info as to whether this is correct?
I hadn’t heard that, and , frankly, am not that current on the Ampeau activities in the last five years or so. A quick internet search does not confirm.
But, nothing in that regard would surprise me. The Ampeaus could have a heft estate tax bill when Michel passes, assuming certain business structure. French tax on inventory could be a hefty, separate from the land holdings. So, I would guess that Michel Ampeau would have a motive to sell off as much inventory as possbile to plan for that day.
But, these are just assumptions based on what you’ve been “told”.
Stuart,
In May of this year, Envoyer offered some ex-cellar 1982 and 1985 Robert Ampeau Puligny Combettes under the Nicholas Potel label. The offering represented that Envoyer had verified that Potel had purchased a quantity of Ampeau’s wine in bottle and slapped the Potel label on it. At the time of the Envoyer offer, the Ampeau domaine was reported to have placed a “halt” on sales while Michel Ampeau was recovering from a stroke.
Like you, I am fascinated by Ampeau’s wines. My true introduction to Burgundy came via a “modest” Ampeau wine, the 1969 Savigny-les-Beaune. One of the greatest white Burgundy wines I’ve ever had was an Ampeau Puligny Combettes, although the vintage escapes me now.
Horrible news, Harry. Like I said, my info is dated and my last visit was in 2007. Michel isn’t the calmest guy in the world.
Ampeau is always a treat. In red or white.