2014 Domaine Ponsot Clos de Vougeot Cuvee Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru 750 ml

Domaine Ponsot’s Clos de Vougeot is one of the elite bottlings from the legendary site. It’s as hard-to-get as it is epic in quality, so the chance to acquire some should be high on every Burgundy lover’s bucket list. 

Clos de Vougeot has been a winemaking hotspot since 1110, and it’s rumored that bottles from the vineyard’s best plots were once gifted to kings and popes. Those same well-draining chalk and gravel soils stress Ponsot’s vines, yielding intricate, expressive Pinot Noir.

Their vines are located in two of the choicest parcels of the hallowed site. One is in the lieu-dit Petit Maupertuis, which is at the upper edge of the vineyard, with the shallow soils that come along with it. The other is just below the Château de la Tour, in the absolute heart of the Grand Cru. Together they come together to paint a powerful picture of the historic site, buttressed by the exceptionally old vines that lend their name to the Cuvée Vieilles Vignes.

Domaine Ponsot was among the first producers to estate bottle and is also one of the most meticulous in both the cellar and in the vineyard in all of Burgundy. They paid attention to clonal selection of vines long before most in the region.

Farming is organic and the family is so detail-driven that no sorting table is required at the winery—anything resembling a sub-par berry is removed from the plant before picking and left in the vineyard. More importantly, that mindset carries over to every part of the winery’s operation.