Tasted with Alexandre Abel in Morey St.Denis, 02 November 2023
Domaine Ponsot
21, rue de la Montagne
21220 Morey Saint Denis
Tel: +33 3 80 34 32 46
www.domaine-ponsot.com
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Alexandre on 2022:
“2022 – after 2021 which was 70% down – was much better but it was still 30% down. That was mainly due to the dryness of the vintage but also, to an extent, the number of replacement vines that were not yet producing fruit. 2023 by comparison is the first vintage since about 15/16/17/18 which brought about a normal volume. 2020 was also 50% down and 2019 30% down. In 2022 we had the big rains in June – fortunately, not as much as in Gevrey-Chambertin but still 80mm in not so many minutes! We didn’t have the dryness that we saw in 2020 which was the reason that the grapes didn’t grow very much that year… We also didn’t have any sunburn on the grapes in 2022 like we did in 2020 – harvesting from 6th September – we brought everything in quite quickly in 2022. As the elevage progressed we could see that there was proper structure – it wasn’t such an easy-going vintage as we first thought – for the reds all fermentations were done by Christmas but the whites were more complicated. As for logistics, the St.Romain will be racked in the next couple of weeks for bottling in January if it’s not too cold – we could also wait until Feb-March – we will see.”
The wines…
What a great Bourgogne and Clos de la Roche to bookend many excellent wines !!
‘We don’t farm any Bourgogne – until 2020 it was declassified Gevrey – so this is a single barrel that has some of the last litres of most of the other wines – so a combination that includes a bit of grand cru – there will be more Bourgogne in 23 as there are some new plantations.’
Concentrated, if a little shy. Great shape and presence in the mouth – a faint though totally ripe frame of tannin – but with intensity and power – great texture. Great finishing, great ‘Bourgogne’
2022 Gevrey-Chambertin Cuvée de Abeille
From Epointures near Petite Chapelle below Chapelle and Mazis. Vines planted in 2014. The old cuvée Pinson came from here.
More width of freshness. More structural but of fine, large scale, full of complex energy and some salinity too. Very good!
2022 Morey St.Denis Cuvée des Grives
Top of Clos Mont Luisants – ‘Here almost 350m vs 220 for the Gevrey but the 2021 harvest was only 2 days later.’
More open, more obviously focused red fruit – that’s very clean and pretty. Super-silky, to start with there’s more velour in the middle – cool, direct fruit that’s ultra classy and absolutely delicious – really a step up from the Gevrey.
2022 Morey St.Denis 1er Cuvée Alouettes
The next rows to grand cru Clos de la Roche. 20-22 year-old vines.
More airy but with impressive width. Also cool fruit and a hint more structure – an open architecture – that’s also a beauty. The villages is easier today but this will be greater!
2022 Corton-Bressandes
Bought grapes. Paler colour. ‘We try to make this in a more elegant fashion vs the Côte de Nuits wines.’
Airy, pretty red fruits and a fine precision. This starts so comfortably but grows in volume and with that, also a little the salt and pepper impression of the tannin. Beautiful entry – stricter to finish – but you know I like strict.
2022 Chapelle-Chambertin
In Gemeaux
A more subtle, deeper nose – quite wide at the base – hiding itself a little today. Silky and oh-so wide – that’s gorgeous over the palate. A faint dryness to this texture but without any tannic grain. Achingly long, deliciously finishing – Yes!
1/3 from the lower part of Monts Luisants – and the rest from the original climate of Clos de la Roche – totalling 3.3 ha – from 16.8 (originally 4.5)
A shy nose but a very silky one – with the impression of super depth. Hmm, much as I loved the Chapelle – here is more open fluidity despite the impressive scale of the wine. A little chalky finishing today. Showing a little less fruit than the Chapelle today but what a beautifully shaped wine – and I’m even more impressed – but I’d be drinking Chapelle today!
Les Whites:
2022 St.Romain
From a single parcel in Combe Bazin – ‘We start the fermentation in tank but the second half of the fermentation is done in barrel.’
A pretty core of clean, ripe citrus with some fainter floral top notes. Cool, mouth-watering, generous but fresh – beautifully balanced wine – and delicious too.
2022 Corton-Charlemagne
From 50:50 En Charlemagne and Les Languettes.
This is less ready – a narrower nose wth super purity but also a faint extra, almost oxidative, note – the malo is not quite finished – understood! Wide over the palate the same extra oxidative note as the nose – but wide and confidently muscled over the palate. Clearly to see again – I find the finish very lovely – and with a faintly chalky texture too…
2022 Morey St.Denis 1er Monts Luisants Blanc
80% of these vines are from 1911 – all aligoté, zero malolactic and no sulfur. They will wait 2-3 months more to see if the malo starts, if not they will do a small (sterile) lenticular filtration but will then bottle like that.
Hmm – there’s some width to this but it’s essentially still quite a tight nose. Clearly, there’s energy here and a juicy palate of complex citrus flavours – some citrus bitters too, finishing calmly but very long too. Super!