Written by historian Guillaume Grillon and Rose-Marie Ponsot and with an intro by William Kelley, From Vine to Wine is a captivating read for all Burgundy lovers—it not only covers the history of the domaine but uses that history to explore the evolution of Burgundy over the last 150 years. It is packed with surprises and insights.
Domaine Ponsot on its own has such a remarkable and distinctive history. It was one of the pioneers of estate bottling (starting in the 1930s with other historic domaines like Gouges, Lafarge and Rousseau). Jean-Marie Ponsot selected many of the great Pinot clones we still use today (often called Dijon clones) from his ancient Clos de la Roche vines. The Ponsots were intimately involved with the establishment of the appellation laws in the ‘30s, have been the longest and arguably most important advocates of the Aligoté grape (they still produce the only 1er Cru Aligoté on the Côte) and were the earliest to move away from the use of new oak. Even today, Domaine Ponsot remains one of Burgundy’s most idiosyncratic and innovative estates. The story of the domaine is therefore packed with intrigue and surprising insights into the story of Burgundy.