Written: July 2022

In May 2022 Domaine Ponsot hosted an event featuring verticals of the two core vineyards with which the domaine was founded in 1872: Clos de la Roche and Clos des Monts Luisants. Admittedly both would have been red wines at that point, before William Ponsot converted a hectare of the latter to white grapes in 1911.

This report features the Clos des Monts Luisants, with bottles dating back to 1961. I have added a few other vintages which I previously tasted at the domaine while doing a program for 67 Pall Mall TV in February 2021, specifically 2018, 2017, 2014, 2013, 1997. With the 2017 and 2014 being part of both tastings. See also my recently published report on the domaine’s Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes

In total the Clos des Monts Luisants covers two and a half hectares of vines, of which just under one hectare is the famous Aligoté, just over one is Morey-St- Denis premier cru rouge, and half a hectare is classified as grand cru. There is a small cabotte built in the style of a miniature château, dating back to 1852, near the top of the vineyard.

William Ponsot replanted the Clos des Monts Luisants with Aligoté in 1911. In the late 1930s Hippolyte Ponsot added a patch of “Pinot Gouges” (Pinot Noir which had degenerated into Pinot Blanc and subsequently been propagated by Henri Gouges) below the Aligoté. In the early 1960s Jean-Marie Ponsot planted some Chardonnay, too. At which point the cuvée was approximately 65% Aligoté, 20% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Gouges.

Laurent Ponsot took out the Pinot Gouges in 1993 and the Chardonnay in 2004, so from the 2005 vintage the Clos des Monts Luisants Vieilles Vignes consists purely of Aligoté. In 2020 it remains 85% from the original 1911 planting with 5% from 1930 and 10% from 2006. Clever Laurent even had the appellation rules of Morey-St-Denis rewritten to allow for Aligoté in this vineyard.

Clos des Monts Luisants timeline

2017 is the first vintage of the new team after Laurent Ponsot’s resignation. There have been a few tweaks to the winemaking. I understand that Laurent crushed the grapes before pressing and then settled out the juice clearly. Today the grapes are not crushed but more of the solids are included in the fermentation, which now is begun in tank before being moved to barrel.

Though we do not have exact information to hand, it is believed that older vintages may not necessarily have undergone their malolactic fermentation. The bottles used for the 1974 vintage and before were clear glass. The label has undergone various modifications, which were confusing me, so I sought clarification from the domaine, as below. NB there was no 2012 vintage made.

Clos des Monts Luisants Label

This is an extraordinary, indeed unique wine – and not just because it is the sole 1er Cru in Burgundy classified as 1er Cru. It can be an absolute delight, and not necessarily just in the supposedly classic vintages. It can also fall below expectations on other occasions – even in the theoretically great years. Do not think of it as an Aligoté, nor as a unicorn to be venerated – just as a fascinating wine in its own right, the Clos des Monts Luisants from Domaine Ponsot.