Champagne Pascal Ponson Grand Reserve Brut NV (375 mL) This tête de cuvée is everything you could want in a half bottle – rich, textured, complex, and all-in-all sumptuous, over-delivering Champagne at a great price!

Maxime and Camille Ponson have absolutely stopped me in my tracks with this portfolio – for a house I had never heard of, and with their relatively young age and lack of traditional experience (due to their father’s untimely death) – one could understand if these wines were lacking polish or complexity… yet just the opposite is the case! Beautifully developed, with silky, creamy textures and a harmonious balance of spice, acidity, and boisterous fruit – these are simply stunning wines that surely make their father, Pascal, as proud as any father could be! 

These brothers have turned their father’s house into one of the most exciting up-and-coming grower producers in all of Champagne, and these are really just their first few releases trickling out into the world… I, for one, can’t wait to see what the future holds!

The Ponson family has made wine and farmed vineyards in the Montagne de Reims for five generations now, with a more recent transition to organic, and biodynamic, farming practices thanks to the young brothers. They continue with natural practices in the cellar – all native yeast, naturally-occuring fermentations, no fining or filtering, and never intervening, to either encourage or prevent malo-lactic fermentation in their wines. Their only addition is a scant dose of sulfur when necessary, and only right after the fruit is harvested in that case.

Their holdings amount to 13+ hectares, spread across the Petite Montagne sub-region of the Montagne de Reims, with the majority of their vineyards in Vrigny, Coulommes-la-Montagne (where the winery stands), Pargny-lès-Reims, Jouy-lès-Reims, Ville-Dommange, Sacy, and Ecueil. The planting mix is dominated by some 70% pinot meunier, with the remaining 30% spread amongst equal parts pinot noir & chardonnay. 

This Grande Réserve Brut combines 34% pinot meunier, 33% chardonnay and 33% pinot noir from their best parcels of vines, and the best lots of the family’s reserves. The elevage occurs over 5 years aging on the lees, with a Brut level dosage of 9 g/liter afterward. Now at one year under cork, this little half bottle packs a bubbly wallop – especially for the price! Opening with bright sensations of red apples and crumbly butter cookies, then spritzy and zesty in the mouth with lemon peel, tangerine, and alyssum. A rich note of brown butter baked pears leads to a delectably pleasing finish, and a warm happy sensation from my brain to my belly. Simply perfect for your Indian Summer picnics, apple picking excursions, and pumpkin carving throughout the fall season! While they last, that is…