Ponsot
About Domaine Ponsot
Founded by a soldier returning home from the Franco-Prussian War in 1872, radical thinking and revolutionary ideas seem to be something of a family trait. The current eccentric Ponsot at the helm of this fabulous estate is Laurent, who is making wildly unique yet utterly Burgundian wines from some of the finest Grands Crus in the entire region.
The Winemaking
Although classified as neither biodynamic nor organic, he uses no insecticide or pesticide on his vines that are an average of 50 years old. To ensure quality, the label is unique for having a white spot that turns grey if the bottle has been subjected to extreme temperatures.
Laurent Ponsot studies the moon and the stars (he is not an astronomer), and their effect on the rhythm of life in the vineyards. A holistic approach that sees him lean heavily towards low intervention winemaking techniques to respect this natural harmony. The faintest touch of sulfur is afforded to the grapes upon picking if absolutely necessary, and there is no sorting table in his winery. Once pressed, the liquid is essentially allowed to ferment whenever it wishes for as long as it wishes. Once the wines have achieved the requisite state of their own accord, they may or may not be racked in the following spring or summer depending on the cycle of the moon.
Product Name | Region | Qty | Score | Price | |||||
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Burgundy | 1 | 95 (WA) |
Inc. VAT
£2,502.04 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (95)Tasted blind at the Burgundy 2011 horizontal tasting in Beaune. Laurent Ponsot’s Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes '11 is reticent at first and demands coaxing, although it repays the patient imbiber with lively floral scents that are entwined with strawberry pastilles and cranberry. The palate is medium-bodied with a fleshy and almost corpulent entry, at least for a 2011 Côte de Nuits. There is admirable depth here with fleshy strawberry and red cherry notes infused with fennel and sage. It lingers for a very long time, which is quite unusual for this vintage. While it needs another few years to completely coalesce, it will be worth the wait. |
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Burgundy | 1 | - |
Inc. VAT
£2,498.44 |
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Burgundy | 1 | 96-98 (WA) |
Inc. VAT
£8,730.04 |
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Wine Advocate (96-98)The estate’s flagship 2005 Clos de la Roche Cuvee Vieilles Vignes surges from the glass in an aromatic tidal wave of liqueur-like black raspberry essence, cinnamon spice, praline, chocolate and heady floral sweetness. Incontrovertibly fat and full, not about clarity or discretion but rather about thick, sumptuous layers of flavor that blanket the palate, this will not be every taster’s idea of a great Burgundy – or perhaps even a good time. Still, there is lift, bright juiciness and a sense of emerging elegance in a finish where sheer intensity and unabashed richness rule but neither the fruit nor tannins are the least bit coarse, and stony, chalky underpinnings break the surface with their own sort of austere beauty. (Thankfully, there is roughly ten times the amount of this wine as of Clos St.-Denis.) |
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|
Burgundy | 1 | 94-97 (WA) |
Inc. VAT
£4,545.64 |
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Wine Advocate (94-97)The 2009 Clos de la Roche Cuvee Vieilles Vignes is round, sweet and totally enveloping. It is a huge, towering Burgundy that impresses for its gorgeous inner perfume and juicy, exuberant fruit. This shows tons of richness without being heavy or overripe in any way. Anticipated maturity: 2029-2049. |
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|
Burgundy | 2 | 96 (WA) |
Inc. VAT
£4,314.04 |
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Wine Advocate (96)Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting in Beaune. The 2012 Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru from Laurent Ponsot has an extravagant, generous nose with hints of kirsch and raisin infusing the cranberry and blueberry fruit. Fortunately it does seem to calm down in the glass, rein in some of that nascent enthusiasm. The palate is sweet on the entry with red fruit, marmalade and dried orange peel. This is a grand cru that just wants to go out and please, a sexy Pinot Noir that does not hold back, which is what you want from this grand cru. This is a tempting offering, so much so that it is easy to overlook its pedigree. |
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|
Burgundy | 1 | 96+ (WA) |
Inc. VAT
£4,200.04 |
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Wine Advocate (96+)The 2015 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Cuvée Vieilles Vignes continues to show very well, and as it settles down in bottle, the tangy acids that underpin its ripe, sun-kissed fruit are becoming more apparent. Aromas of red berry compote, plums, blackberries, dark chocolate and peonies introduce a full-bodied, powerful wine with considerable mid-palate amplitude, structured around fine-grained tannins that are coming to the fore now that this Clos de la Roche it tightening up in bottle—though they remain largely cloaked in the wine's lavish core of fruit. It's an excellent wine, and I see no reason to alter my score or drinking window given earlier this year. |
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|
Burgundy | 2 | 97 (WA) |
Inc. VAT
£2,907.64 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (97)The 2016 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Cuvée Vieilles Vignes is superb, bursting from the glass with aromas of juicy cherries, peonies, blood orange, licorice, raw cocoa and espresso roast. On the palate, it's full-bodied, deep and succulent, with a concentrated, layered mid-palate, satiny structuring tannins and vibrant underlying acidity, concluding with a long finish. Harvested on October 7 at a comparatively high yield by Ponsot's standards of 38 hectoliters per hectare, this year seems to have been perfectly adapted to Ponsot's style. Vibrant, elegant and expressive, the 2016 is quite different from the richer, more powerful 2015, but in the fullness of time, I wouldn't be surprised to see it surpassing its brawnier elder sibling. |
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|
Burgundy | 2 | 96 (WA) |
Inc. VAT
£3,463.24 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (96)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. |
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|
Burgundy | 1 | 97 (BH) |
Inc. VAT
£3,199.24 |
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Burghound (97)A brooding and almost grumpy nose only grudgingly gives up its aromas of poached plum, warm earth, smoked game and once again, plenty of spice nuances. The velvety and opulent big-bodied flavors brim with an abundance of dry extract that imparts a seductive mid-palate mouth but also serves to buffer the remarkably firm tannic spine shaping the powerful and hugely long finish where the only nit is a suggestion of warmth. This is a fantastic but seriously imposing wine with the structure to match so this is one to buy and forget you own it. In a word, brilliant. |
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|
Burgundy | 1 | 96-99 (IB) |
Inc. VAT
£3,339.64 |
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Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (96-99)5 star wine The average age of the vines is 65. On the darker side of imperial purple and then, what a magisterial nose, clearly ahead of anything else in the cellar! Clos de la Roche ripened early this year, so for once was picked earlier in the piece. Not too late fortunately, but the level of ripeness in terms of fruit profile can certainly be seen. We are in the presence of a grand wine for sure, with perfectly balanced acidity to carry it through and exceptional persistence. Tasted: November 2020. |
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|
Burgundy | 1 | 18.5 (JR) |
Inc. VAT
£4,594.84 |
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Jancis Robinson (18.5)Four barrels made from 103 year-old vines. The yield in 2008 was just 12 hl/ha (‘We lose money on it’, according to Laurent Ponsot). Very opulent with a hauntingly layered nose. Almost more reminiscent of a cherry liqueur than a wine. Great energy – rather like a healthy drink for its real spine of life. Subtle, sweet, wild and long but with excellent freshness. ‘Probably the sort of wine that was drunk 200 years ago,’ Ponsot claims. |
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|
Burgundy | 1 | 91-94 (WA) |
Inc. VAT
£2,792.44 |
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Wine Advocate (91-94)The 2009 Corton-Bressandes shows notable intensity in its layers of floral, mineral-laced fruit. The wine hovers on the palate with superb length and polish. (sold in a mixed case of 12 bottles at $6,600 per case) Anticipated maturity: 2019-2029. |
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|
Burgundy | 1 | - |
Inc. VAT
£936.04 |
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Product Name | Region | Qty | Score | Price | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Burgundy | 1 | 95 (WA) |
In Bond
£2,069.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (95)Tasted blind at the Burgundy 2011 horizontal tasting in Beaune. Laurent Ponsot’s Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes '11 is reticent at first and demands coaxing, although it repays the patient imbiber with lively floral scents that are entwined with strawberry pastilles and cranberry. The palate is medium-bodied with a fleshy and almost corpulent entry, at least for a 2011 Côte de Nuits. There is admirable depth here with fleshy strawberry and red cherry notes infused with fennel and sage. It lingers for a very long time, which is quite unusual for this vintage. While it needs another few years to completely coalesce, it will be worth the wait. |
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|
Burgundy | 1 | - |
In Bond
£2,066.00 |
|||||
|
Burgundy | 1 | 96-98 (WA) |
In Bond
£7,259.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (96-98)The estate’s flagship 2005 Clos de la Roche Cuvee Vieilles Vignes surges from the glass in an aromatic tidal wave of liqueur-like black raspberry essence, cinnamon spice, praline, chocolate and heady floral sweetness. Incontrovertibly fat and full, not about clarity or discretion but rather about thick, sumptuous layers of flavor that blanket the palate, this will not be every taster’s idea of a great Burgundy – or perhaps even a good time. Still, there is lift, bright juiciness and a sense of emerging elegance in a finish where sheer intensity and unabashed richness rule but neither the fruit nor tannins are the least bit coarse, and stony, chalky underpinnings break the surface with their own sort of austere beauty. (Thankfully, there is roughly ten times the amount of this wine as of Clos St.-Denis.) |
|||||||||
|
Burgundy | 1 | 94-97 (WA) |
In Bond
£3,772.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (94-97)The 2009 Clos de la Roche Cuvee Vieilles Vignes is round, sweet and totally enveloping. It is a huge, towering Burgundy that impresses for its gorgeous inner perfume and juicy, exuberant fruit. This shows tons of richness without being heavy or overripe in any way. Anticipated maturity: 2029-2049. |
|||||||||
|
Burgundy | 2 | 96 (WA) |
In Bond
£3,579.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (96)Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting in Beaune. The 2012 Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru from Laurent Ponsot has an extravagant, generous nose with hints of kirsch and raisin infusing the cranberry and blueberry fruit. Fortunately it does seem to calm down in the glass, rein in some of that nascent enthusiasm. The palate is sweet on the entry with red fruit, marmalade and dried orange peel. This is a grand cru that just wants to go out and please, a sexy Pinot Noir that does not hold back, which is what you want from this grand cru. This is a tempting offering, so much so that it is easy to overlook its pedigree. |
|||||||||
|
Burgundy | 1 | 96+ (WA) |
In Bond
£3,484.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (96+)The 2015 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Cuvée Vieilles Vignes continues to show very well, and as it settles down in bottle, the tangy acids that underpin its ripe, sun-kissed fruit are becoming more apparent. Aromas of red berry compote, plums, blackberries, dark chocolate and peonies introduce a full-bodied, powerful wine with considerable mid-palate amplitude, structured around fine-grained tannins that are coming to the fore now that this Clos de la Roche it tightening up in bottle—though they remain largely cloaked in the wine's lavish core of fruit. It's an excellent wine, and I see no reason to alter my score or drinking window given earlier this year. |
|||||||||
|
Burgundy | 2 | 97 (WA) |
In Bond
£2,407.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (97)The 2016 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Cuvée Vieilles Vignes is superb, bursting from the glass with aromas of juicy cherries, peonies, blood orange, licorice, raw cocoa and espresso roast. On the palate, it's full-bodied, deep and succulent, with a concentrated, layered mid-palate, satiny structuring tannins and vibrant underlying acidity, concluding with a long finish. Harvested on October 7 at a comparatively high yield by Ponsot's standards of 38 hectoliters per hectare, this year seems to have been perfectly adapted to Ponsot's style. Vibrant, elegant and expressive, the 2016 is quite different from the richer, more powerful 2015, but in the fullness of time, I wouldn't be surprised to see it surpassing its brawnier elder sibling. |
|||||||||
|
Burgundy | 2 | 96 (WA) |
In Bond
£2,870.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (96)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. |
|||||||||
|
Burgundy | 1 | 97 (BH) |
In Bond
£2,650.00 |
|||||
Burghound (97)A brooding and almost grumpy nose only grudgingly gives up its aromas of poached plum, warm earth, smoked game and once again, plenty of spice nuances. The velvety and opulent big-bodied flavors brim with an abundance of dry extract that imparts a seductive mid-palate mouth but also serves to buffer the remarkably firm tannic spine shaping the powerful and hugely long finish where the only nit is a suggestion of warmth. This is a fantastic but seriously imposing wine with the structure to match so this is one to buy and forget you own it. In a word, brilliant. |
|||||||||
|
Burgundy | 1 | 96-99 (IB) |
In Bond
£2,767.00 |
|||||
Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (96-99)5 star wine The average age of the vines is 65. On the darker side of imperial purple and then, what a magisterial nose, clearly ahead of anything else in the cellar! Clos de la Roche ripened early this year, so for once was picked earlier in the piece. Not too late fortunately, but the level of ripeness in terms of fruit profile can certainly be seen. We are in the presence of a grand wine for sure, with perfectly balanced acidity to carry it through and exceptional persistence. Tasted: November 2020. |
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|
Burgundy | 1 | 18.5 (JR) |
In Bond
£3,813.00 |
|||||
Jancis Robinson (18.5)Four barrels made from 103 year-old vines. The yield in 2008 was just 12 hl/ha (‘We lose money on it’, according to Laurent Ponsot). Very opulent with a hauntingly layered nose. Almost more reminiscent of a cherry liqueur than a wine. Great energy – rather like a healthy drink for its real spine of life. Subtle, sweet, wild and long but with excellent freshness. ‘Probably the sort of wine that was drunk 200 years ago,’ Ponsot claims. |
|||||||||
|
Burgundy | 1 | 91-94 (WA) |
In Bond
£2,311.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (91-94)The 2009 Corton-Bressandes shows notable intensity in its layers of floral, mineral-laced fruit. The wine hovers on the palate with superb length and polish. (sold in a mixed case of 12 bottles at $6,600 per case) Anticipated maturity: 2019-2029. |
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|
Burgundy | 1 | - |
In Bond
£764.00 |
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