2018 Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes
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Tasting notes
The 2018 Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru offers darker fruit on the nose, confit raspberry mixed with cassis scents, maybe showing a little overripeness? The volatility begins to impede after 10 minutes in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, quite velvety smooth with an attractive spiciness that comes through on the finish. This is potentially a very fine Clos de la Roche, discombobulated slightly by the growing season. There's a chance it might redeem itself in bottle, but I feel only a small chance. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2018 red tasting.
Critic scores
Average Score
The Wine Advocate
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
Ponsot's 2018 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Cuvée Vieilles Vignes was only bottled in July 2020, and its extended élevage has really refined the wine. Opening in the glass with aromas of dark berries, cherries and plums mingled with dark chocolate, preserved citrus peel, woodsmoke and spices, it's full-bodied, concentrated and powerful, with real depth and mid-palate amplitude, its rich, powdery tannins largely concealed in a generous core of fruit. This is a muscular wine somewhat reminiscent of a more gourmand version of the domaine's 2005, and it will demand patience.
Ponsot's 2018 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Cuvée Vieilles Vignes is a brooding, powerful wine, unfurling in the glass with a kaleidoscopic bouquet that marries deep fruit tones of dark berries and cassis with sweet nuances of smoked meats, licorice, dark chocolate and peonies. Full-bodied, broad-shouldered and muscular, it's deep and concentrated, with a layered core of fruit that's built around rich reserves of tannin and lively balancing acids. This appears to be the most structured Ponsot Clos de la Roche of the decade; it will demand patience, but it is a terrific wine in the making.
About the producer
Domaine Ponsot is one of the most well-known estates in the Côte de Nuits, famed for owning three of the original four hectares of the Clos de la Roche Grand Cru. The legendary domaine also produces another nine Grand Cru cuvées.