Tasted in Gilly les Citeaux with Laurent Ponsot, 23 April 2019.

Laurent Ponsot SAS
10 Rue Des Cerisiers
ZA Petite Champagne
21640 Gilly Les Citeaux
Tel: +33 3 80 41 03 27
www.laurentponsot.wine

“I’m not anyway a vigneron – I am haute couture négociant – I think we have to put that ‘work’ back in it’s proper place – it’s an important word and haute couture means every detail associated with that. As soon as you have a good raw material it’s important to have attentaion to all the details.”

Laurent on 2017:
“I’m very happy with all the 2017s that I have – if I’m not happy I won’t sell it! Again, I think the perverse effect of the global warming is good for Burgundy – it’s hard to make bad wines – of-course each vintage has more or less fruit, but 1984 was the last bad vintage; there have been less good ones and we need new names for the good ones I think. I don’t think we do much better work – it’s just the climate! But I’m so happy that the ‘farmers’ here are paying attention and doing a great job – maybe half are good and a couple of hundred can be at the very top level – I can buy from many producers and make my own blend if I choose.

“I am very confident in the wines – there’s not one of them that I wouldn’t open to please my friends. Some people are fixated on the yields of 2017, but in 1990, 1999 and 2009 we had great yields but great wines too – so the link between volume and quality is not a given. But I still wonder every day if the market will absorb them all! Perhaps my biggest challenge is that I want to be as well known for my whites as my reds. I don’t know if I have a future, but I try hard – and so does my team – it’s a great team!”

The wines…

I simply great range of wines – in both colours – at this address for 2017. The most difficult performance came was the new Beaune – but only just encased in its bottles – it deserves a second chance!

The wines have, more or less, had just one week in bottle – and in 2017, 80,000 bottles is the production figure versus 47,000 last year! “I have 26 cuvées now – not the 6 that I started with – and I still have energy even if I don’t have money!”

2017 Bourgogne Blanc Cuvée du Perce Neige
‘Regional – but burgundy is big! Note I never declassify to make a label better – maybe if the weather is not generous like I did in 1994 – and I will have my distillery if I don’t like it.’
An appealing density but nothing heavy – an inviting start. Hmm, drive, saline, concentration – balanced weight of flavour. Delicious.

2017 Meursault-Charmes Cuvée de la Centaurée
Lots of separate purchases in the vineyard, assembled.
A nose of more width, less density – fine but smaller today. Vibrant, weight in the middle – the same saline, mineral if you like, long, layered delicious finishing flavour. More composed than the Blagny – just different – today I take the Blagny for the extra fireworks…

2017 Bâtard-Montrachet Cuvée des Lilas
Here is a fresh nose but also a much more compact nose – the first bottle he’s opened since bottling! Almost some citrus (mandarin?) zest in here. Hmm – this is different rather than a step up from the CC – widerer, more cushioned chalkiness – saline and exceptionally long – but never with the bravado of the CC today. Excellent wine, with the same drive and energy as the Charlemagne!

Les rouges:

2017 Bourgogne Rouge Cuvée des Peupliers
‘I don’t want too many blending parts for this, but more of each would be great!’
Ooh – that’s a sizzlingly good, vibrant dark-red fruit, almost a little mineral though almost a suggestion of reduction below too. Ooh – that’s so big and energetic – dark red fruit – I really can’t place the area but it’s delicious, again a suggestion of reduction, fireworks – but I’m guessing a little!

Next up is a Gevrey and Laurent tells me “I bought quite a bit of Gevrey this year – and Chambolle villages – plus En Ergot Gevrey, Sentiers from Chambolle and then there’s the Bonnes-Mares – this is why I told you I am poor! There’s a type of tannin in Gevrey – of all levels – and you can see it here, you would never say Chambolle or Vosne…”

2017 Gevrey-Chambertin Cuvée l’Aulne
Just a little less colour. Depth and clarity of aroma – but rather tight. Width on the palate – beautiful definition/clarity – a little touch of tannin – less forward fruit than the Bourgogne but a certain class here – melting and mineral in the finish.

2017 Chambolle-Musigny Cuvée de la Violette
Here is a very Chambolle nose – slightly acidulated sweet fruit that reminds very much of the Drouhin 1er cru wine, in this case almost with a touch of almond. A wine that’s all sweetness and light – concentrated but airy, layered and very finely sweetened fruit. Fine finishing, faintly but properly structured. Gorgeous.

2017 Beaune 1er Cru Cuvée du Noyer
‘A new wine, a wine that I like to drink myself – I often order Beaune 1ers in restaurants so I though it was time to make a start. 8 different 1ers from 5 providers. For about €45 ex cellars – half the price of the previous Chambolle!’
Actually this is very Beaune with its noble herb style of aroma behind the fruit, growing with a floral element too – not bad as bottled only last week. Mouth-filling, some herb, plenty of acidity. More structural than the previous wines – more patience needed than the other, but excellent.

2017 Clos de Vougeot Cuvée du Cèdre
5 different providers, some in barrel.
Oh – a big, open, slightly structured, fresh – beautiful nose – clarity and florals too. Lots of vibrant fresh flavour here – not the most concentrated – how could it be so with this energy – but really with an ingraining flavour, faintly herbed. Simply excellent wine!

2017 Echézeaux Cuvée de l’Erable
Not a massive nose, faintly spiced but growing. Full, energetic, fresh – bigger than the CV, a little more tannin – so much finishing complexity. Supple and wide – almost comforting in the finish. Super finishing persistence too. Another simply excellent wine.