Nicolas Potel is one of a new breed of vinificateurs who are redefining the meaning of négociant. His father, the highly respected Gerard Potel, began a négoce house in the mid 1990s while manager of Domaine de la Pousse d'Or. Upon Gerard's death, Nicolas left the Domaine to take over the négoce business and his philosophy remains unchanged from when he worked with his father at Pousse d'Or.

He bought about 60% fruit for the 1997 vintage and 50% for 1998 (the rest being post-fermentation wine). He is very involved in the vineyard management with his contract growers and insists, whenever possible, on a biodynamic approach. He has strict requirements as to vine age (minimum of 35 years), harvest date, selection and parcel location. His selection process is extreme and quality driven: in 1998, about 500 wines were tasted to net 25 purchases.

The future is optimistic for Nicolas and his personal relationships with the leading growers of the Côte d'Or have given him access to fruit and wine which normally would never be sold off by the estate. His training in Australia and California leads him to prefer generous fruit qualities, and his wines are remarkably rich and sensual.