2017 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

Since Laurent Ponsot split from Domaine Ponsot in October 2017, it is easy to confuse Domaine Ponsot, presently run by sister Rose-Marie Ponsot, who recruited winemaker Alexander Abel, and Laurent Ponsot, run by the namesake man himself, together with his son Clément and based at a new facility in Gilly. It resulted in my turning up at Domaine Ponsot as intended, when in fact an appointment had mistakenly been made with Laurent Ponsot. I am thankful for the hastily rearranged tasting here and hope to visit Laurent Ponsot upon my return to Burgundy in January. For the rather complex details of the division, I recommend readers turn to Stephen Tanzer’s producer commentary that accompanies his review of the 2016s.

“The only problem during the growing season was hail on July 10 that affected Monts Luisants and the upper part of Clos de la Roche,” Abel told me as we tasted down in the barrel cellar. “Fortunately, the berries were still green, and afterwards it was windy, so they soon dried, and the damaged berries simply fell off a few days later. We started picking on September 15 with the Bourgogne Rouge and then stopped briefly, before restarting on September 18. The reds are entirely de-stemmed and there is no change in terms of using no new oak. For the 2017 vintage, the white grapes are whole-cluster-pressed and we have done the same in 2018 in order to prevent oxidation.” I ask the same question as Tanzer when I visited: Will you change Laurent Ponsot’s modus operandi? Just as they told him, they intend to continue the same tenets and practices – no surprise, really, given that Rose-Marie worked alongside her brother for many years. One of those tenets includes late picking, far later than their peers, not by a couple of days but by a couple of weeks. Apparently their own records prove that this has long been the case and Rose-Marie Ponsot told me that when others pick is neither here nor there. They decide when they feel that their own vines have achieved ripeness.

Now, I am not one to pull my punches, and I realize that my view is contrary to others. But I am convinced that the fruit is picked too late. I felt the same when I tasted the domaine’s 2015s from barrel. I felt the same a couple of weeks prior to my visit when what a group of tasters thought was a Grenache transpired to be their 2005 Clos de la Roche. I am loath to simply describe it as their “singular style” when deep down I feel that their 2017s would have benefitted from being picked earlier. I do not suggest they were “bad”; however, after visiting more than 100 domaines, they lacked zip, brightness and tension. Incidentally, this is my conclusion before enquiring about picking dates. Why can they pick two weeks later than every other grower without any effect upon sugar accumulation? What vineyard technique, what unique attribute makes that possible? The evidence in the glass suggests there is none. In many ways I admire that stubbornness and conviction. But I would not be doing my job if I did not express my reaction and concerns.

I must stress that I do not feel the same about all their 2017s. There is much to enjoy with respect to the whites, particularly an excellent Corton-Charlemagne. Plus, I fully understand why the Morey-Saint-Denis Monts Luisants was picked late after the growing cycle was retarded by hail. It was only as I began tasting through the reds that alarm bells began ringing. Over the years I have enjoyed many amazing bottles from Ponsot, including one of the very best I have ever encountered - the 1971 Clos de la Roche made by Jean-Marie Ponsot. But you can take something too far. You can pick late and make great wine, but there comes a point where it is detrimental and it sacrifices the idea of terroir expression, freshness and vitality.