Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Vieilles Vignes Ponsot (Domaine) 2008

Lot presentation

Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Vieilles Vignes Ponsot (Domaine) 2008

The wine

The Clos de la Roche (which ironically is not a clos!) covers roughly 16 hectares and is the largest crus area in Morey Saint Denis. Its wines are colourful, with rich aromas of red and dark fruit (wild cherries and blackcurrant). Whilst this wine is excellent for laying down it is also a lovely wine in its earlier years due to the maturity of its tannins; the Clos du Domaine Ponsot is a good example. Established on the Côte d'Or since 1870, the Ponsot family comes from a long line of winemakers who have all applied their savoir-faire to the Domain. In 1932 Hippolyte started to bottle the wine on the estate, and in 1934 he exported it to America. At the beginning of the sixties his son Jean-Marie was a pioneer in clonal selection in the Burgundy region. In 1972 his wife Jacqueline inherited several parcels from Gevrey Chambertin and Chapelle Chambertin. Today the estate is exclusively run by the family, and the different entities are owned by Jean-Marie and Jacqueline Ponsot's children who continue to produce wine completely uninfluenced by fashion. Sometimes certain wines only reveal their true potential after a long and difficult maturing. Hence the reason why the domain will never put a wine onto the market if it does not live up to its appellation and vintage. The domain harvests very late using traditional wine-making methods. No new wood or filtering methods are used, resulting in a rich and spectacular wine.

In 1872, William Ponsot bought a domaine in Morey-Saint-Denis. Since then, several generations have followed and the vineyard has grown. Hippolyte began bottling at the domaine in 1932 and exporting to the United States in 1934. His son Jean-Marie was among the pioneers of clonal selection in Burgundy in the early 1960s. In 1972, his wife Jacqueline inherited several parcels of Gevrey-Chambertin and Chapelle-Chambertin. Today the heritage remains exclusively with the family, and the different parts of the domaine are held by Jean-Marie and Jacqueline Ponsot's children who continue to produce wines outside the fashionable phenomena. The domaine harvests very late, fully respecting traditional winemaking methods, without new wood or any filtration operation, resulting in spectacularly rich wines. In early 2017, Laurent Ponsot, who had run the domaine for many years, left the domaine (for personal reasons) and it is now his sister Rose-Marie Ponsot who has taken over.