2004 Ponsot Clos St Denis

Producer note: As is his usual practice, Laurent Ponsot was one of the last growers to begin picking reporting that he began on "September 29th. We had some oidium but really not too much as we treated often and I have an extremely competent team. We did do some sorting but it was really only because of the hail, not for rot. We had yields in the 30 hl/ha range, which is higher than usual for us but low for the vintage. As is my custom, I rarely taste the wines for the first 6 months after they go into barrel and when I did, I was shocked as I found them better than the '02s were at the same point in time. I have fallen in love with this vintage as it's both very pinot and très terroir. The malos were very long and slow and I have not racked them since the malos finished as I want the wines to feed off the fine lees." Ponsot's 04's are among the stars of the vintage as he has crafted an extremely strong set of wines and while one expects the Clos de la Roche and Clos St. Denis to be outstanding, this is perhaps the best Chapelle I have seen in many vintages. As to the domaine's '03s, several of them have turned out better than I originally previewed, in particular the Griotte, which is flat out terrific.

Tasting note: This is one genuinely gorgeous wine with ripe, elegant and dense aromas and one can literally smell the concentration as the fruit is incredibly dense, nuanced and complex. The flavors are equally potent as this stains and drenches the palate with chewy pinot extract and culminates in a textured, structured and superbly long finish. This is a serious old style burgundy that possesses that "wow" factor. 93-95 points

Burghound Jan '06