Domaine Ponsot is an old domaine in Morey-Saint-Denis, Burgundy. Their vineyards cover 10.41 hectares, farmed according to sustainable practices, organic agriculture and biodynamic farming. Rose-Marie Ponsot is managing the vineyards with passion and love.

Domaine Ponsot holds a monopole: Clos des Monts Luisants in Morey-Saint-Denis.

The wines of the domaine are multidimensional, rich with flavors and perfectly express the quality of the terroirs.

Top wines of the domaine are: Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Cuvée Vieilles Vignes, Chambertin Grand Cru and Clos Saint-Denis Grand Cru Cuvée Très Vieilles Vignes. The Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Cuvée Vieilles Vignes 1971 is scored 100, the Chambertin Grand Cru 1985 is scored 99 and the Clos Saint-Denis Grand Cru Cuvée Très Vieilles Vignes 1991 scored 97 by the Wine Advocate.

Robert Parker comments on the Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Cuvée Vieilles Vignes 1971: “The 1971 Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru is one of the best bottles of wine that I have ever drunk. I don't think I can make it any clearer than that. To put that statement into perspective, this had the unenviable task of following a bottle of 1978 Romanée-Conti. On this night, the Ponsot killed it. No contest. The wine is iridescent in the glass, just a slight, tawny rim, but vivid at its core. The bouquet is astonishing with crystalline kirsch, fresh strawberry, minerals and crushed rose petals, the tension and delineation otherworldly. It never decays in the glass and if anything, it seemed to gain momentum. The palate is extraordinarily well balanced, tensile from the start thanks to its perfect silver bead of acidity. The purity is breathtaking, undimmed by its age, the apogee of Pinot Noir in all its unfettered glory. It finishes with hints or blood orange, maraschino cherry and minerals, then lingers in the mouth for a ridiculous amount of time, almost teasing its departure. This wine convinced me that there are perfect wines, yet they are rare--perfection reserved for only the most ethereal, profound, religious vinous experiences such as this 1971 Clos de la Roche. And now, I will wipe away my tear and thank Jean-Marie Ponsot for having created this elixir. Tasted December 2015.”

Domaine Ponsot is managed by Rose-Marie Ponsot and technical director Alexandre Abel.

From 1997 until 2016 Rose-Marie Ponsot has managed the domaine together with her brother Laurent Ponsot. He is known for setting up a new sales system, which diversified the sale to 44 countries. In 2016 Laurent Ponsot with his son created their own domaine - Domaine Laurent & Clément Ponsot. Rose-Marie Ponsot and Laurent Ponsot succeeded their father Jean-Marie Ponsot, who managed the domaine for 40 years.

The history of the domaine starts in 1872, after William Ponsot purchased a wine estate in Morey-Saint-Denis. In 40 years the domaine was inherited by his nephew Hippolyte Ponsot. Hippolyte Ponsot was one of the first in the region to start bottling his entire harvest in 1932. That helped to arrange export to the USA and European countries already in 1934. Hippolyte Ponsot also was one of the founders of the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) classification for Burgundy wines in 1935 and 1936. Later he was joined by his son Jean-Marie Ponsot, who was a pioneer of clonal selection in Burgundy in the early 1960s. He and his wife Jacqueline Ponsot Livera added 9 different parcels to the domaine. In 1975 the domaine was incorporated as a landholding company and in 1989 was filed as a registered trademark.

There is an interesting story connected with Domaine Ponsot and Laurent Ponsot. The wines of the domaine were faked in 2011 by the famous Indonesian Rudy Kurniawan, a well known trader. Rudy Kurniawan tried to sell several vintages of the domaine's wine for auction at the New York auction house of Acker, Merrall & Condit including Clos Saint-Denis vintages from 1945 to 1971 and the 1929 vintage from Clos de la Roche. But the domaine did not bottle wines until 1934, and only started making wine from Clos Saint-Denis in 1982. The fraud was discovered by Laurent Ponsot. He contacted the auction house and flew to New York to pull the counterfeit wines from the auction. His intervention was successful and Laurent Ponsot started cooperating with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation on fraud with rare wines. The result of this cooperation was that Rudy Kurniawan was imprisoned. The 2016 documentary “Sour Grapes” directed by Jerry Rothwell and Reuben Atlas was made, based on these events.

Domaine Ponsot is farmed according to sustainable practices, organic agriculture and biodynamic farming.

Harvesting is done manually: sorting, if necessary, is also carried out manually directly in the vineyard before the harvest.

The grapes are being destemmed and pressed, the harvest is then transported by gravity through stainless steel pipes to the wooden tanks in the fermentation room.

Vinification is natural and its rules totally depend on the harvest. Frequent punching down is done with a new high-tech vertical press. Maceration and fermentation take place in open conical oak vats only. Maceration lasts 10 to 20 days. Chaptalisation is rarely conducted and carefully measured. Temperatures are controlled by an intelligent computer-aided system.

Sulphur is used only in cases.

Since the 2010 vintage, wines have been bottled on a new ultra-modern bottling unit, custom-built for Domaine Ponsot.