The grapes are carefully hand-picked into wicker baskets and then transferred to small crates, each weighing no more than 17 kilos. This ensures the grapes are not compacted and remain intact for pressing. If sorting is needed, it is done manually in the vineyard before harvest. If further sorting is required, it is performed by the pickers, basket emptiers, and, if necessary, additional sorters. This process can be particularly stringent if the harvest has been damaged. Sorting at the cellar cannot match the precision of vineyard sorting because, during transport, the mycelium of rot can mix with healthy grapes, leaving traces of grey, bacteria-laden powder even after careful sorting.
We typically rack the wine once, ideally long after the second fermentation is complete, and sometimes we bottle without racking, as in 2003. Racking and bottling are always done during a waning moon and under high atmospheric pressure. Our wines are neither fined nor filtered, and we use minimal sulfur. We apply SO2 as an antiseptic when the grapes are crushed and vatted, and it almost completely dissipates during alcoholic fermentation. To minimize sulfur use, we avoid exposing the wine to oxygen by frequently topping off our barrels. During racking and bottling, the wine is never in contact with air, as we use nitrogen, carbon dioxide, or a blend of both neutral gases.
Ageing
Our wines are aged in oak barrels for two years, but we avoid using new barrels. The natural ageing process of wines made from Burgundy grape varieties is slow and needs careful management. New wood, being very porous, allows for too rapid an exchange with the outside of the barrel. Additionally, the flavor of oak, although natural, is not inherent to the terroir or the grapes. Our goal is to produce WINE, not a beverage based on wine and oak.
Drinking Window: Domaine Ponsot2026-2040
