Site and vineyards
Champagne Bonnet-Ponson is located in Champagne at 9 Chemin du Peuplier in Chamery, in the Montagne de Reims wine-growing area. The family vineyard comprises 10.5 hectares in around 50 plots in Chamery, Vrigny, Coulommes-la-Montagne and Verzenay. The orientations range from north to south-east. The soils include sand, limestone, clay, clayey clay and chalk; some plots in Chamery have sandy subsoils rich in fossils.
Organic viticulture
The estate has been farming its vineyards organically since 2013 and does without synthetic insecticides, herbicides and fungicides. The entire area of 10.5 hectares is certified organic; the first certified harvest took place in 2016. Documented measures include natural cover cropping, shallow ploughing, compost, green manuring, gentle vine pruning, yield limitation and agroforestry. Since 2019, more than 400 trees have been planted in and among the plots.
Grape varieties and wines
Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay and Petit Meslier are grown, as well as Pinot Blanc, Arbanne and Pinot Gris. The range includes Champagne and Coteaux Champenois from Chamery Premier Cru sites and other plots of the Montagne de Reims. The Seconde Nature cuvée comes from south-east-exposed Chamery Premier Cru plots with clay-limestone soils and sandy subsoils rich in fossils. Petit Melange is blended from Petit Meslier, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Meunier, Pinot Blanc, Arbanne and Pinot Gris.
Cellar and history
In the cellar, the estate uses indigenous yeasts, gentle vinification and maturation on full lees for nine to ten months. Additives are kept to a minimum; where needed, small doses of sulphur may be used occasionally. The wines are generally not dosed. The family’s winemaking tradition in Chamery began in 1862 with Grégoire Bonnet and his son Jules. The Bonnet-Ponson estate was created in 1957 through the marriage of André Bonnet and Monique Ponson. Thierry Bonnet took over the business in 1979; in 2003, the vineyard was expanded by plots in Verzenay.
