If you cut through one of Nicolas Potel’s veins, it would probably bleed red burgundy. His father, Gérard, died young, in 1997 – and the family’s Domaine de la Pousse d’Or in Volnay is now in the hands of a Swiss owner, leaving Nicolas to make his way with what was initially an eponymous négociant business and is now a mixture of his own vineyards and bought-in wines under the respective names Domaine de Bellene and Maison Roche de Bellene. The latter business depends on calling in wines and favours from vine growers the length of the Côte d’Or, people with whom he grew up, so he is particularly well plugged in to the nuances of the fortunes of the blessed “golden slope” that is responsible for all of the world’s great burgundy.
切开尼古拉•波泰尔(Nicolas Potel)的血管，流淌的或许是勃艮第红酒。1997年他的父亲热拉尔(Gérard)英年早逝，家族位于沃尔内(Volnay)的黄金发庄园(Domaine de la Pousse d’Or)之后转手瑞士买主。尼古拉于是自立门户，创办了与自己同名的酒商企业（通常译为力高宝德——译者注）。现在他旗下拥有两块业务：他自己的葡萄园贝伦庄园(Domaine de Bellene)，以及经销其他庄园红酒的罗德斯贝酒庄(Maison Roche de Bellene)。后一块业务主要是从金丘(Côte d’Or)一带的葡萄种植人那里收酒，并寻求他们的帮助。他与这些人一起长大，因此特别熟悉金丘这块宝地的收成变化。金丘可是全世界勃艮第葡萄酒佳酿的聚集地。