Domaine Ponsot is a wine producer in Burgundy, France that produces white and red wine. They are best known for their Morey-Saint-Denis Blanc 1er cru Clos des Monts Luisants — the only premier cru Burgundy made entirely from Aligoté — and their flagship reds, the Clos de la Roche Cuvée Vieilles Vignes, and the Clos St. Denis Cuvée Très Vieilles Vignes. The domaine's wine was famously counterfeited in the wine auction scandal that resulted in Rudy Kurniawan's arrest.
History
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. 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 1935 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, 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. Laurent took over winemaking duties at the domaine in 1983, and runs the domaine to this day.
Counterfeit wines
Domaine Ponsot's wines were at the center of a scandal involving counterfeit bottles. Rudy Kurniawan consigned several vintages of the domaine's wine for auction at the New York auction house of Acker, Merrall & Condit, including Clos St. Denis 1945, 1949, 1959, 1962, 1966 and 1971, and a 1929 Clos de la Roche. However, the domaine did not estate bottle prior to 1934, and only started making a wine from Clos St. Denis in 1982, so according to Laurent Ponsot, those bottles were faked. There were also label and sealing inconsistencies with several lots, according to Laurent. He contacted the auction house, and flew to New York to see for himself that the lots were pulled. After the auction lots were pulled, Laurent wondered if Kurniawan was "a victim or predator," but once he met with Kurniawan, he became convinced that "it was the latter." After that point, he began working with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation in the matter of the faked wines.
Vineyards, viticulture, and winemaking
As of 2008, Domaine Ponsot has produced wine from 10 vineyards. The domaine grows wine with a serious nod to biodynamic processes, using no fertilizer, pesticides, or weed killer, although the domaine makes no claim to being organic or biodynamic. At harvest time, the grapes are selected in the vineyard, picked into wicker baskets, generally not having been destemmed, for crushing on the winery's 1945-era vertical press. After pressing, the wine is gravity-fed into oak, computer-temperature-controlled, fermenting tanks, where fermentation takes 10 to 20 days. Pigeage is done three times daily. From there, the wine is gravity-fed down to the barrel cellar. It is aged up to 30 months in barrels that are a minimum of 5 years old, before bottling occurs during a time when there is both a waning moon and a north wind. There is no use of sulfites; instead, the wine is kept under a blanket of nitrogen during racking and bottling to protect it from oxidation. The labels of the domaine have a white spot that will turn grey if the ink in them is subjected to extreme temperatures, thus indicating that the wine may be damaged.
Clos de la Roche vieilles vignes Grand Cru
Domaine Ponsot is the largest landholder in Clos de la Roche, holding 3 of the original 4 hectares of the vineyard's original definition.
This is farmed under the 1982 metayage agreement with the Mercier family. From the 2006 vintage onwards, the wine produced by Ponsot from this vineyard has been labelled as "Très Vieilles Vignes".
Grape variety: Pinot noir
Vineyard holding:
Estate bottling: 1982
Planting date: 1905
2008 production: 1006.5 liters
Chambertin Grand Cru
Although the domaine records indicate a wine made in Chambertin as early as 1969, the current parcel is farmed under the 1982 metayage agreement with the Mercier family. These holdings are only 9 rows of vines.
This is a monopole of Domaine Ponsot, part of the estate's original landholdings. With the 2006 vintage and before, back to the early 1950s, this wine contained a portion of Chardonnay and prior to 1992, back to the late 1930s, a portion of Pinot Gouges/Pinot Musigny as well. This is currently the only 1er Cru Aligoté produced in Burgundy. This wine is fermented in old barrels and does not get put through malolactic fermentation.
