The 2022 Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru has the finest bouquet from Domaine Ponsot this year: ebullient black cherries and violets on the beautifully-defined nose. Very flamboyant with losing sight of its terroir. The medium-bodied palate is very tensile and energetic with finely-knit tannins and a deftly crafted, sorbet-fresh finish. This is a superb Clos de la Roche that should age with style.(NM)

Note: the aggregate size of this holding is a whopping 3.4 ha and Ponsot is by far the largest holder in Clos de la Roche. A restrained, spicy and broad-ranging liqueur-like nose features a plenitude of spice elements on the ripe, fresh and layered nose of both red and dark currant, earth and a whiff of the sauvage. Once again there is a caressing yet powerful mouthfeel to the beautifully concentrated and strikingly textured big-bodied flavors that coat the palate with sappy dry extract on the hugely long, firm and very much built-to-age finish. This is extremely impressive and in particular I like the fruit-acid-tannin balance.

Although Ponsot's Clos de la Roche is a bit closed at this stage, it is a monumental wine with abundant plum and black cherry fruit aromas, pepper, earth, and olive. The texture is rich and dense, with firm but not forbidding tannins and a silky and elegant finish. This wine will still stay in the cask for another winter, at least. Wait at least five years before opening, ten if possible; this age-worthy beauty should last 40 or 50 years.(CC)