Jean Baptiste Ponsot Rully Premier Cru Montpalais 2014
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When Ponsot assumed control of the domaine, he started to gradually plant the underutilized parcels of land owned by the estate. Valuing the health of the soil and environment, Ponsot does not use insecticide, herbicides, or harsh antifungals. He clears the parcels by hand and aeration-tills with tractors seven to eight times a year up till July 14th. Any synthetic treatments are mindfully chosen over organic alternatives on the basis that the specific synthetic products are less intrusive than the organically derived ones. In the same vein, Ponsot has established such a healthy microbiome that, in spite of the severe disease pressure of Burgundy, he is using copper at half the rate of his neighbors. He will be spraying copper treatments 4 times a year while others spray 8 times and supplementing the spray schedule with preventative and homeopathic methods to intervene before rot becomes an issue. The fruit is picked to stay below 13.5 points potential alcohol and still show a balanced acidity.
Jean-Baptiste is not interested in expanding his business. Rather, he is content with perfecting the long chain between the vine and the glass. It is a bold decision for a young grower who began without a single bottle with the domaine’s name on it to producing only 100% bottled wines—wines that cohere to the style of viticulture Ponsot practices. The goal is to produce wines with combativeness and intensity of depth, and the wines are considered “precise, taut and ripe.”
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
Exclusive for its bright and charming whites, Rully is optimally situated in the northern part of the Côte Chalonnaise where light and sandy soils create fresh Chardonnays. Here they have perfumes redolent of acacia or honeysuckle, with bright peach and lemon flavors and a flinty finish. With time, Rully whites evolve to fuller flavors of honey, quince and dried apricot.
Rully is also one of the best sources of premium sparkling Crémant de Bourgogne and while over two-thirds of Rully’s production is white grapes, its reds are also worth seeking out, especially as an introduction to Burgundy Pinot Noir. Rully reds express pleasant aromas of rose, licorice and have ripe, red cherry fruit on the palate. Grésigny, Rabourcé, and Les Cloux are its most popular Premiers Crus.