Sixth generation winemaker Cyril Bonnet's family has been making champagne in the village of Chamery since 1862. Grégorie Bonnet was among one of the first to bottle his own cuvee in the region and even installed a 5,500kg wooden press years before electricity made it to the village, around 1902. The winery is not in the original location, it had to relocate to another place in town after the original was destroyed in the second World War. It wasn't until 1956 that the name we now know was bestowed upon the winery. It was then when André Bonnet married Monique Ponson that the house of Bonnet-Ponson was born. Their son Thierry joined in 1979 and now Cyril oversees this historic winery. He began in 2013 with his father, that same year they began the conversion to organic farming that persists in the vineyards even today. 

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Cyril farms 50 plots spread over 3 premier cru villages (Chamery, Vrigny and Coulommes la Montagne) and one Grand Cru (Verzenay). These plots add up to 10.5ha that have been slowly accumulated since that first small garden in 1862. The vines are all contained in the region referred to as the 'Petit Montagne' that contain often sandier soils with clay/loam and calcareous deposits. The chalk underneath comes from the marine deposits when the area was covered by the sea 35 million years ago and creates a perfect subsoil for perfect grape growing. 

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The health of the soil is the most important part of vine-growing at Bonnet-Ponson. This is why pesticides and herbicides are never used and all solutions used in the vineyards are organic and used as sparingly as possible. All of this leads to healthier soils and better grapes by result. The diversity of plants, animals, insects and organisms help bolster the plants own natural defenses. Allowing for particularly low amount of excess anything in the vines. The balance in the vineyards lead to balance in the glass.  

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Vinification happens in a mix of vessels from oak barrels to steel tanks or concrete vats. The decision is made once the harvest is done, based on the needs of the year. Native yeast fermentations allow for a strict limitation of the use of sulfites and fining and filtering is never done. Every year, for the last 50 years, 35% - $40 of the years harvest joins the previous ones in a solera style blend that make up the base for the non-vintage blends. This 'taste-memory' initiated by Cyril's grandfather creates a unique identity to the wines that is almost impossible to replicate anywhere else. 

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One could well spend some quality time contemplating the land the history contained in each bottle of Bonnet-Ponson. The rich layers of flavor and texture that envelop your senses upon each sip further encourage such reflection. It is not waxing poetic to say that these feelings are almost forced upon you when sipping from your glass. It is a champagne that evokes feelings, that conjures the past, that makes you happy to be where you are drinking it.