2005 Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru

Laurent Ponsot told me that four hours after the late July hailstorm he was spraying copper and sulfur in his vineyards. The following week he eliminated all of the affected fruit (Griottes-Chambertin was the worst hit, he told me, followed by Chapelle). In the end, following his normal late harvesting (he started on September 27), Ponsot brought in fruit with sugars between 13.5% and 13.8% and did not chaptalize. He rates 2006 at the same level of quality as 2004 and 2002, albeit in a different style. Incidentally, Ponsot was again among the latest to pick in 2007: he started on September 12, after many of his neighbors had finished, and picked until the 22nd. Once again, he did not chaptalize, and he reported having seven vats above 14%. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)

Laurent Ponsot has had two consecutive outstanding vintages, and his top 2005s promise to be Burgundy legends. Ponsot upgraded his physical plant by constructing a four-level winery in time for the 2001 vintage. He picked late in 2005, starting on September 27 and bringing in fruit with potential alcohol mostly between 13% and 14.5% (the Clos de la Roche reached 15%). Ponsot always destems and crushes the grapes, but he noted that the smallest grapes go into the fermenter intact. There was no cold soak ("we let nature take its course"), and Ponsot told me he did "plenty of pigeages" in 2005 (two or three per day is normal practice here). And yet the wines do not seem at all overextracted, especially those from very low-yielding old vines-particularly Clos de la Roche and Clos Saint-Denis-which boast extraordinary concentration and breadth. Ponsot continues to age his wines in barrels "from 5 to 50 years old." (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)