Wine Advisor
Ponsot, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Cuvee Vieilles Vignes 2017
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: William Kelley
The 2017 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Cuvée Vieilles Vignes is also showing very well from bottle, unfurling in the glass with a deep bouquet of sweet red berries, plums and cassis, complemented by sweet soil tones and lifted top notes of orange rind and peonies. Full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, it's deep and concentrated, its velvety tannins and succulent acids cloaked in an ample core of fruit. This is a brilliant wine from Domaine Ponsot.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2017 Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru does not quite deliver the same complexity as its peers, coming across earthier and more backward, though it does develop a very attractive mineral element. It frays at the edges in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, fine acidity, clean, red berry fruit and a touch of black pepper, but it lacks a bit of complexity and feels a little forced and pruny on the finish. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2017 tasting.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2017 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru comes from two climats (2.8 hectares in Clos de la Roche and 0.70 hectares at the bottom of Montluisants) that are each fermented and aged separately. My sample is a blend of the two. It was picked on September 19–20. Like some of Ponsot’s other cuvées, it has a high-toned bouquet of cassis and violets, developing a hint of licorice with time in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin and more tension than the other Grand Crus from the _ domaine_. A sprinkle of white pepper and sage appears toward the finish. This should age well, though I would like more backbone and grip on the finish.
About the Producer
Domaine Ponsot was founded in 1872 when William Ponsot's father purchased a house for him and some vineyards in Morey-Saint-Denis, after William returned from serving in the Franco-Prussian War. A small amount of the domaine's wine was bottled by them at this time, mainly for private use and for the family's restaurants (they owned the franchise for all the station buffets in northern Italy at the time). When William died childless in 1926, the domaine was passed to William's nephew, Hippolyte Ponsot. At the time, the domaine's holdings included Clos des Monts Luisants, a vineyard founded by William and planted with Aligoté in 1911, and a parcel of Clos de la Roche. The domaine also cultivated fruit from other appellations, such as Les Charmes and Les Combottes in Gevrey-Chambertin. The planting of Aligoté was unusual at the time; most white wine production in Burgundy had leaned towards the more economically viable Chardonnay grape in the post-Phylloxera era. The domaine began estate bottling in 1934; a rarity at the time, something only a dozen domaines did prior to World War II. They also began selling wine outside France, including to the United States, at this time. The first labels were hand-stamped and signed by Hippolyte, something he did by the fireplace in the days before television. During 1934 and 1935, Hippolyte was active in defining the Appellation d'origine contrôlée system in Burgundy, something his prior training as a lawyer and diplomat was useful in. Hippolyte retired in 1957, passing the domaine to his son, Jean-Marie Ponsot (former mayor of Morey-Saint-Denis, former president of the Cadets de Bourgogne and Grand Echanson of the Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin), who had been working at the domaine since 1942 as co-winemaker and co-viticulturalist. In 1961, the domaine began working several new parcels under a type of agreement known as metayage—plots in Chambolle-Musigny, Chambertin, and Latricières-Chambertin. Their holdings expanded again in 1972, when Jean-Marie's wife, Jacqueline Ponsot Livera, inherited vines in Gevrey. The domaine was incorporated into a property company in 1975, with Jean-Marie, Jacqueline, Denis, and Marie-Antoinette Ponsot as principals. In 1981, Jean-Marie's son, Laurent Ponsot, began working at the domaine. This year also saw an expansion of the domaine's metayage agreements, adding access to Griotte Chambertin, Chambertin, Clos St Denis, and Chambolle Les Charmes from Domaine des Chezeaux (the Mercier family). Laurent took over winemaking duties at the domaine from 1983 until 2017, when he left to found Domaine Laurent Ponsot. Laurent's sister Rose-Marie remains as sole proprietor.
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