Domaine Ponsot Grand Cru Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes 2018

This is, without any doubt, Domaine Ponsot’s top wine and one of the finest wines of the Côte de Nuits. The terroir itself largely explains why. Domaine Ponsot is famously the largest landowner in Clos de la Roche, perfectly situated almost entirely within the historic Clos itself and with some of the oldest vines (averaging approximately 60 years of age). Clos de la Roche was expanded in the 1950s to include a range of neighbouring sites (Les Fremières, Les Genevrières, Les Mochamps, Monts Luisants, etc.) which surround the original vineyard or Clos. As you might expect, the original terroir makes different wines to the surrounding sites now included in the AOC. Domaine Ponsot owns almost three hectares of the original 4.5-hectare Clos (widely considered to be the finest part of the Clos de la Roche AOC). The rest of Ponsot’s holdings are within the Monts Luisants lieu-dit (which has always been bottled and sold as Clos de la Roche as it has the same soil but is higher on the slope). The grapes from the Monts Luisants parcel are said to add freshness to the power of the original Clos fruit.