A blend of fruit from propitiously situated plots, sourced from six different growers, across the largest of all of Burgundy’s Grand Crus. Intentionally, some are prime real estate, directly behind the château; others, on the lower ebbs of the vineyard. Ponsot sees this as a balancing act. A wealth of black cherry, red currant and plum liqueur, framed by the Clos’ earthenware tannins. A wine that is consistently rated frumps by the world’s eminent Burgundy commentators, this will only grow in stature with extended patience.
“Here’s presence!” exclaims Hugh Johnson’s Wine Guide. Nowadays the vineyard is divided among numerous owners and for this reason no single description can be applied to the reds wines. There are, however, common features: very intense colour ranging from strawberry red to deep garnet; a suave bouquet, redolent of springtime of blown roses at dawn, of violets in the morning dew, of moist mignonette... Add to these blackberries, raspberry, wild mint, liquorice and truffle... On the palate, the taste is masterful, rich, succulent and mellow, combining elegance and delicacy with meaty fullness. A long finish in the mouth and long aging potential (anything from 10 to 30 years and sometimes even more).
After 36 years at the helm of Domaine Ponsot, Laurent Ponsot left his celebrated Morey-St-Denis domaine to launch his namesake Domaine and luxury négociant business. Laurent’s family are behind some of the most sought-after Burgundies ever crafted, and his ingenuity, mastery and passion for Burgundy’s terroir remain unwavering. The famous fourth-generation winemaker left his family estate in 2017 to create his own entity, seeking to strengthen the continuum between the land he knows so intimately and the stellar wines upon which his reputation is founded. Joined by his son, Clément, and now Ponsot’s other two children Claire and Nicolas, their brilliant fruit combined with incredible pioneering innovations forge wines of startling perfume, delicious depth and elegance.
Laurent believes that “creating an exceptional wine is the equivalent of designing luxury goods”, describing their wines as “Haute couture.” Akin to crafting unique and desirable designer pieces, each wine is beautifully sculpted with experience and craftsmanship: Whether a Bourgogne Rouge to some of Burgundy’s finest Grand Cru wines, from the vine to the bottle, no detail is overlooked. Laurent’s philosophy is to produce wines of authenticity, balance and purity. The estate has adopted pioneering technological advances in bottle closures, heat tracking, and microchip-enabled anti-forgery devices, while retaining all the traditional old-world elegance the Ponsot name is famous for.
Based in Gilly-lès-Cîteaux, close to Clos de Vougeot, the project is founded on several key aspects important to Laurent. Ponsot's project allows him to work more closely with his immediate family, to source the best fruit across a plethora of top sites, transcending the access of any domaine or other negoçiant without compromising quality; and to deliver wines at accessible pricing with his unique, minimalist approach: late harvesting, very little sulphur, ambient yeasts, zero new oak and long lees handling, resulting in sinuous wines of immaculate poise. Almost all of the wines come from the same vines as previous vintages of Domaine Ponsot releases. Considering the winemaker remains the same, the wines of Ponsot offer a significant continuation of the family legacy. Explore the portfolio of Burgundy’s most exciting producer.
