Wine Advisor
Ponsot, Chapelle Chambertin Grand Cru 2017
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2017 Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru has a simple, candied bouquet of red cherries, crushed strawberry and blood orange, a bit muddled compared to others. The palate is actually better, much fresher and more vibrant, with crisp acidity and touches of orange peel infusing the vibrant red fruit with an almost zesty finish. I would be interested to retry another bottle. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2017 tasting.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2017 Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru was harvested from September 18 and underwent a long, two-and-a-half week maceration at a lower temperature than usual. It has a very confit-like bouquet of sweet crème de cassis and pressed violet aromas and a slightly meaty/dried blood note tucked in underneath. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit, gentle grip and good weight, though it needs more complexity to come through on the sweet, candied finish.
Reviewed by: William Kelley
A pure and inviting bouquet of plums, raspberries, rose petals and peonies introduces Ponsot's 2017 Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru, a full-bodied, satiny wine that's concentrated and incisive, retaining all the suppleness and charm it displayed in barrel but having gained additional depth and reserve with further élevage and some time in bottle. This has turned out brilliantly and will merit a dozen years' bottle age to really show all its potential, even if it will be approachable sooner.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2017 Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru was harvested from September 18 and underwent a long, two-and-a-half week maceration at a lower temperature than usual. It has a very confit-like bouquet of sweet crème de cassis and pressed violet aromas and a slightly meaty/dried blood note tucked in underneath. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit, gentle grip and good weight, though it needs more complexity to come through on the sweet, candied 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.
