2021 Chambolle-Musigny Les Sentiers 1er Cru

For absolute clarity, these notes refer to the winemaker who left Domaine Ponsot to establish a separate entity under his name, commencing with the 2016 vintage. Ponsot took with him a handful of contracts that he subsequently expanded through purchases of must so that there are now 29 appellations represented, two-thirds red and one-third white. Laurent Ponsot’s tenets remain unaltered, including using SO2 only when needed and eschewing new oak. The reason for our tête-à-tête was, in fact, to discuss convicted fraudster Rudy Kurniawan since Ponsot has recently published a book on the saga. But, of course, I took a few minutes to tour what must surely be the best-equipped winery in Burgundy located in Flagey-Echézeaux. Spacious, spotless and with every innovation you could imagine, not to mention an upstairs dining area replete with a grand piano—I haven’t seen anything like it. Then, before discussing his nemesis, Ponsot poured just a small selection of his 2021s.