2019 Domaine Ponsot Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru

Another terrific success is the 2019 Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru, a full-bodied, deep and concentrated wine that's supple and layered, evocative of cherries, cassis, plums, violets and spices. Deep and seamless, it concludes with a perfumed, bergamot-inflected finish. 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)