William Ponsot’s father created Domaine Ponsot when he purchased Château de Gilly after the death of its owner, Paul François Barbezet in 1872. The purchase included vineyards that are located on some of the best sites within Burgundy including Clos Saint Jacques, Les Suchots and Chambrun which possess both limestone soil with alluvial topsoil over clay subsoil resulting in exceptional drainage, perfect for Pinot Noir to grow well there. The estate’s holdings in the Côte de Nuits were consolidated following its purchase of Clos du Roy, Les Cars and parts of Domaine Romanée-Conti. Initially, the holdings were only used to make wine for the family and their restaurants. However, in 1934, they began estate bottling and selling wine outside of France, even to the United States. However, in the 1970s, they began to sell grapes to other producers. Later on during this decade and into the 1980s, more vineyards were purchased with some not used for grape production but rather left as woodland or sold off completely. The purchase of Clos de Tart was one of their most important acquisitions because it produced Grand Cru wines that lacked international recognition while also having extraordinary potential due to its location just south of Echezeaux. In the early 2000s, they were able to acquire a plot of land in Gevrey-Chambertin that had been used for growing grapes since Roman times. That was one of their most important acquisitions because it allowed them to begin producing red wines from this appellation and not just white Burgundy wines. In 2010 Domaine Ponsot purchased Château de Courcel which was an estate located on Saint-Émilion’s Right Bank with 11 hectares (27 acres) of vines planted there producing mostly Merlot grapes. They also established a distribution network for their wine beyond France by building a presence in Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai and Dubai. The vineyards of Domaine Ponsot are managed in a biodynamic manner. This is a method of agriculture that takes the natural balance and cycle into consideration. In addition, they use as little intervention as possible in production to ensure quality wines are produced from vineyards. The stored grapes are crushed in the same press that Domaine Ponsot has been using since 1945 and the gravity-fed into oak fermentation takes before being barrel-aged for up to 30 months.
