The Ponsot estate
The Ponsot Estate
was created in 1954 by my grandfather Lucien Ponsot, for whom the vine was a passion among his many activities within a polyculture farm.
Vintage after vintage
His son Bernard – my father – was then committed to developing the wine business of the estate, so that it eventually become our exclusive business.
Bernard has been a “living encyclopedia” of Rully’s history ! He knows plenty of anecdotes about villagers and vineyards: the date of planting each parcel, the rootstock, the succession of properties…
I'm the grandson of the founder. I took over the estate in the year 2000. I was 20 years old.
It is with the pride but also the great responsibility of having to perpetuate what 2 generations of my family built, that as soon as I arrived,
I focused on planting vineyards belonging to the Estate, but still unexploited until 'so.
I also gradually invested to modernize our working tool: in 2005, I built
a new winery and a cellar for the reception of our customers.
Today
I am in charge of the 8.8 hectares of vines that Domaine Jean-Baptiste PONSOT owns on the best slopes of the Rully Appellation, in the heart of the Côte Chalonnaise, but also in Chassagne-Montrachet, one of the jewels of the vineyards of Burgundy.
The 8.8 hectares of the estate are divided into: 5.10 hectares in Premier Cru; 3.36 hectares in the Village appellation; 0.21 hectare in Aligoté and 0.08 hectare in Chassagne-Montrachet.
We produce two thirds of white wines, and one third of red wines.
I work in sustainable agriculture and I do not use herbicides. To be able to keep this strong environmental commitment, I apply myself to a rigorous, continuous and meticulous work of the grounds of each parcel. In my opinion, the quality of my wines is the result of this meticulous work in the vineyards: control of the yields, aeration of the grapes, choice of the pruning techniques adapted to the each plant (Guyot, Cordon), increase of the height of the leaf surface, leaf stripping... All this commitments are necessary to achieve my major goal: to produce beautiful grapes.
I raise all my wines for 12 months in oak barrels (one third of new oak barrels), then I assemble in vats for a period of 3 to 6 months depending on the vintage.
My challenge
Today, my goal is to continually increase the quality performance of the Estate, vintage after vintage, in order to offer you the highest quality wines, while remaining in an environmental and responsible approach.
Proud of my roots
This 3,05 hectares vine plot (1,30 hectares of Chardonnay and 1, 75 hectare of Pinot noir) is located in the Rully Premier Cru appellation area and belongs to our family since 1954. This parcel was planted in Pinot Noir by my father and my grandfather from 1978 to 1988 for a part, then by my father and me thereafter, when it was enlarged progressively until 2011.
Molesme is a very generous ground plot, which does not fear drought. It is exposed East - Southeast, with a flatter topography of Piedmont. Its subsoil is composed of an oxfordian substratum of lithographic and oolitic limestone. Its soil is reddish brown calcareous, partly colluvial, with satisfactory hydric regime but with a possibility of seasonal karstic resurgence very localized in this plot.
Our wines from this plot
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Rully Premier Cru « Molesme » White Beautiful marriage between the fat of the wine and the mineral tension. Round, precise and greedy. Aging 12 months in barrels (25% of new oak barrels) and 3 months of assembly in mass. |
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Rully Premier Cru « Molesme » Red Juicy, elegant and velvety wine with very fair woody. A voluminous mouth, a noble juice and coated tannins. Aging 12 months in barrels (40% of new oak barrels) and 3 months of assembly in mass. |
This beautiful plot of Rully Premier Cru belongs to our family since 1952, on a surface of 1 hectare and 71 ares. Montpalais was planted in Chardonnay by my father and my grandfather in 1954. It is therefore a vine that I prune in simple guyot. This plot never freezes, but is very prone to erosion because its slope is strong: it therefore requires special vigilance.
This vine plot is exposed East - Southeast on a regular slope but rather pronounced. Its subsoil is composed of an oxfordian substratum of white marls and marly limestones dominated by oolitic and lithographic so-called "de Nantoux" limestones, whose colluvial screes participate in the coarse fraction of soils. Its soil is brown, limestone, very stony, with a fine fine marly fraction.
Our wines from this plot
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Rully Premier Cru « Montpalais » White This wine has a great complexity, with a good length in the mouth. Aromas of flint. Aging 12 months in barrels (20% of new oak barrels) and 3 months of assembly in mass. |
This plot of 3,03 hectares in the Rully Village appellation was acquired by my great-grandfather in 1910. Formerly in the meadow, vineyard plantations only started in 2000, ending in 2009. My father and I planted these vines in white and red: 2 hectares and 33 acres in Chardonnay, 50 acres in Pinot Noir. « En Bas de Vauvry" is one of the few Rully appellation plots to be located in the heart of the historic Premiers Cru hillside of the appellation: it is therefore a promise of quality!
This vine plot is exposed East - Southeast, on average slope. Its subsoil is composed of an oxfordian substratum of white marls and marly limestones dominated by so-called oolitic limestones of "Nantoux", whose colluvial scree participate in the coarse fraction of soils. Its soil is brown, limestone, very stony, with a fine fine marly fraction.
Our wines from this plot
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Rully « En Bas de Vauvry » White Dry and slightly woody, sublimated by a very elegant and creamy toasted aging. Aging 12 months in barrels and 3 months of assembly in mass (15% of tank, 20% of new barrels and the rest in barrels of 1 to 4 wines). |
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Rully Red Intense, ripe wine with coated tannins and a good aging potential. Aging 12 months in barrels (30% of new oak barrels) and 3 months of assembly in mass. |
This small plot of 33 ares belongs to our family since 1950. It was planted in Pinot Noir by my father and my grandfather in 1958. This parcel is very frosty in the spring, then very early in the harvest. Here, I prune the vine in “guyot simple”, and it allows me to get a very robust, tannic and colorful wine.
This vine plot is exposed South-East, with a slight slope near the road downstream. Its subsoil is composed of oxfordian substratum of lithographic and oolitic limestones. Its soil is calcareous brown, very stony, with cryoclastic debris and a fine clay-loam soil. In its upstream part, its soil is calcareous brown more reddish, stony and a fine clay-silty earth.
Our wines from this plot
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Rully Red Intense, ripe wine with coated tannins and a good aging potential. Aging 12 months in barrels (30% of new oak barrels) and 3 months of assembly in mass. |
This small plot of 25 acres in Appellation Rully Premier Cru was planted in Pinot Noir in 1969. I have been renting it since 2006. I made the choice to prune this Cordon vine, and leave it in grass: these technical choices allowed me to reduce the size of the bunches and to promote their maturity, in order to finally obtain a wine of better quality.
This plot is exposed Southeast, with a slight slope near the road downstream. Its subsoil is composed of oxfordian substratum of lithographic and oolitic limestones. Its soil is calcareous brown, very stony, with cryoclastic debris and a fine clay-loam soil. In its upstream part, its soil is calcareous brown more reddish, stony and a fine clay-silty earth.
Our wines from this plot
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Rully Premier Cru « La Fosse» Red This wine has a great complexity: fruity without heaviness, fresh and tasty. Floral aroma. It has a comfortable aging potential. Aging 12 months in casks (40% of new oak barrels) and 3 months of assembly in mass. |
This small plot of 21.18 ares has belonged to our family since 1950. It was planted by my father and my grandfather in 1961. This plot is very frost-prone in the spring. It is therefore an old vine over 60 years old that produces a very complex Aligoté of high quality.
Our wines from this plot
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Bourgogne Aligoté “en l’Asne” Complex wine, very balanced, full of energy. Aging 12 months in barrels and 3 months in bulk. |
I acquired this plot in 2021. This small plot of 7.85 ares was planted in 2014 with Chardonnay. This climate "Blanchot dessous" enjoys a good exposure, because it is close to the "Blanchots dessus", classified as a Premier Cru and which was very close to becoming a Grand Cru during the 1930s. Another neighbour, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet in Grand Cru and Montrachet a few meters away. Nuances of terroir, no doubt, but we are here between close relatives. This plot is grown organically.
Our wines from this plot
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Chassagne-Montrachet “Blanchot dessous” Unctuous, rich and complex wine. Persistent minerality, citrus aromas. |
Our commitments in vineyard and cellar
My main commitment has always been to make every effort to produce high quality wines. I always look for elegance, finesse and freshness in a wine. It’s a continuous improvement process, an everyday challenge and responsibility. It is already a massive change for our family estate: I have thus gone from a harvest sold wholly in bulk to the trading in the 2000s, to vintages wholly sold in bottle from 2013.
To reach this goal, it was first necessary to take care of the vineyard: no good wine without beautiful grapes!
- In 2007, I decided to ban all use of weed killers, anti-rot and insecticides: a strong environmental commitment for the estate.
- Instead of these treatments, I have to practice all the year a meticulous and continuous work of the grounds on all the exploitation: ridging, debutting, intercep, scratching…
- I also decided to increase the leaf area of the vines from 1.20m to 1.40m.
- All the vines are leafless on the north side to facilitate maturity and prevent the development of rot (botrytis).
- I also adapt to the specificities of each parcel in order to better control the yields: Guyot or Cordon pruning, grassed soil or total plowing…
Elaboration of red wines
Before the harvest, I anticipate the sorting of clusters directly on the vine by counting the grapes, sorting rotten and clusters that have matured poorly.
A second sorting is then done on the table during the harvest, before entering the cellar.
After sorting, the reds are inoculated and macerated cold between 4 and 6 days, then the maceration is done at 27 °C to finish a few days at 30 °C.
I alternate between pigeage and reassembly according to the vintages.
The vatting lasts a total of 21 days.
After pressing, the wine is barreled for 12 months where malolactic fermentation takes place.
My red wines are then put in mass during 3 months before the bottling which is carried out in general at the beginning of December.
Elaboration of white wines
After pressing, the white must is decanted for 24 hours, then it is put directly into barrels to perform the alcoholic fermentation at a temperature of 20 °C.
The batonnage is done according to the vintages.
The wine is then aged for 12 months in oak barrels.
As for the reds, my white wines are then put in mass for 3 months before the bottling which is done generally at the beginning of December.
Domaine Jean-Baptiste PONSOT
Great Wines of Burgundy
Rully | Côte Chalonnaise
26 Grande Rue,
71150 Rully
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