2018 Domaine Ponsot Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Vieilles Vignes

Ponsot's 2018 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Cuvée Vieilles Vignes was only bottled in July 2020, and its extended élevage has really refined the wine. Opening in the glass with aromas of dark berries, cherries and plums mingled with dark chocolate, preserved citrus peel, woodsmoke and spices, it's full-bodied, concentrated and powerful, with real depth and mid-palate amplitude, its rich, powdery tannins largely concealed in a generous core of fruit. This is a muscular wine somewhat reminiscent of a more gourmand version of the domaine's 2005, and it will demand patience. Domaine Ponsot started picking on September 20, and winemaker Alexandre Abel reported yields some 35% to 40% below average, with alcohols in the 14s and healthy pHs at around 3.3. Yet while alcohols in 2019 were if anything higher than in 2018, the 2019 wines are more elegant, with livelier fruit tones and less overtly muscular structure. That's not a criticism of the 2018s, however, which we revisited from bottle, confirming that they are wines that will require patience: interestingly, the most put-together of the range was the Clos de la Roche, a cuvée that was bottled last, in July 2020, and which certainly seemed to have profited from the longer élevage. (WK)

The Clos de la Roche “Vieilles Vignes” is always the most powerful grand cru chez Ponsot and in 2018 this is again the case, as this is a massive, powerful and very well-balanced example of the vintage. The sappy and flamboyant nose offers up scents of black raspberries, black cherries, roasted venison, dark chocolate, a good base of soil and a touch of bonfire in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, massive and potentially voluptuous, with a bottomless core, ripe, well-integrated tannins and great length and grip on the powerful and promising finish. This is a super-sized vintage of Ponsot Clos de la Roche, but at least out of the blocks, all the pieces are in place and the wine works very well and shows fine potential for future evolution. The style will not be to everyone’s tastes, but that is true of this iconic wine in every vintage and the powerful 2018 version is still cut from the same stylistic cloth as all the great Clos de la Roche bottlings here from the past, the vintage has just added a bit more muscle to a wine that is always one of the most powerful reds to be found in the Côte.