Tasted in Chassagne-Montrachet, 17 October 2019, with Pierre-Yves Colin.
SARL Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey
Chemin du Puits Merdreaux
ZA Le Haut des Champs
21190 Chassagne-Montrachet
Tel: +33 3 80 21 90 10
Pierre-Yves on 2019:
“I’m happy with 2019. It’s small in terms of quantity but I’m still happy – and with both colours – the reds are less catastrophic from volume perspective – but both look very fine. But another vintage style that I think we haven’t really seen before – started 7 September – maybe I was the first in Chassagne.”
Pierre-Yves on 2018:
“2018 another early vintage, but rather slightly earlier than slightly late! This year 12.5° would have been a bit early for the vintage, likewise 13.5° a little late – figgy – I’m talking whites, reds were 12-12.8° here – I always try to avoid extremes. But it’s still something of a mystery – where did all this juice come from? (smile) – the week before the harvest we looked at the vines we were sure that we had 40-50 hl/ha! Just the first Bourgogne has been bottled so far – everything was racked in August – the grand crus and some premiers back into barrel, the others into tank. Bottling for the latter by the end of the year, the others not before April 2020.”
The wines…
An incisive range of 2018s from PY – the early wines were troubled so we can overlook them for now. The wines that had been racked into barrel were more open and much more easy to taste. There is much class here – fresh balance too – though at this stage it was too early to say ‘delicious’ – there are some great wines in waiting though!
2018 Bourgogne Chardonnay
Made from 4 parcels spread across Meursault, Puligny, Chassagne and St.Aubin – made exactly like all the other wines, just a shorter elevage.
Hmm, this nose is round, a little textured, almost a little reduction. Bright, growing width, a little strictness of agrume and then a broad wave of mouth-watering, practically grapefruit flavour. Long and good!
The following all from tank, and some were clearly not showing their best as they were a little troubled and still had plenty of lees in suspension, so I make only some short descriptive notes:
2018 Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune Au Bout du Monde
Vines in the direction of Nolay, bought in 2014 – 2015 was the first vintage – from an 8 ha domaine shared with Sauzet – about 6km from domaine, vines on hillsides, over 400m with plenty of clay in this soil. Harvested about a week later than the vines around Chassagne – patience is always needed.
Pretty, floral, instantly attractive. More drive and freshness. A hint of barrel but here is really an impressive width of finishing flavour, saline edged – this is excellent.
2018 Pernand-Vergelesses Les Combottes
A tighter nose but there’s depth here. More driving, vibrant wine, a slightly reductive flavour profile that’s very Pernand, long – ooh that’s so good – excellent wine!
2018 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Sous Fretile
Here the nose is a little more open, showing lemon citrus and a vibration of Pernand reduction. Wider on the palate, indeed also more palate-staining – incisive flavour here – a step up for sure. Excellent 1er Cru!
2018 St.Aubin Le Bon
A blend of multiple parcels, but all from this same village’s lieu-dit, with 3 generations of vines. In totality, this is the largest parcel of the domaine at over 1 hectare.
A shimmer of reduction – agrume style. More forward, mouth-puckering acidity is the first impression but the wine relaxes some over the palate – yellow citrus and a touch of oak today – the finish fading attractively…
2018 St.Aubin 1er Homage a Margeurite
3 1er crus combined: Combes, Perrières and les Creots – about the same of each – made first time in 2016 due to the frost, ‘the name is from my maternal grandmother who died about the same time as the frost in 2016. We continue…’
A tighter but deeper nose, again. Hmm, plenty of acidity again, but friendlier, very silky with just a faint plushness to the texture. Long, slow-moving waves of finishing flavour. This is excellent!
2018 St.Aubin 1er Champlots
Also not a full-power nose, but one with a little extra floral impression. More mineral and with a nice driving style, again much more mineral finishing but with no hard edges. This is very good.
2018 St.Aubin 1er Chateigniere
Older vines than Champlots (30)
A striking lemon fruit of freshness on this nose. Wide, mineral, plenty of acidity, really beginning to offer a fine and mouth-watering finish – just a hint of rigour to the structure – but still modest. Very good!
2018 St.Aubin 1er En Remilly
About 60 yo vines – as was the last.
A little more complexity here, floral and agrume too. Fuller but not fatter – more complex, good energy, tasty finishing where there’s a touch of salinity too. Long, sweetly long. Excellent!
The following all from barrel but previously racked:
2018 Chassagne-Montrachet Enseignieres
The oldest chardonnay vines of the domaine – always an early harvest. Next to the Puligny of the same name, below Bâtard. Racked and back into barrel with gros lees from now.
Hmm – a lower impact nose but one of very attractive complexity. Wide, complex, energetic, the first wine where my tastebuds are really starting to wake up – this is fresh but also delicious – excellent!
2018 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Abbaye de Morgeot
A parcel bought in 2013, 2014 was the first vintage from these 50-year-old vines. From the high part of the vineyard.
Another tighter nose, yellow fruited. More drive and energy – a direct wine of extra minerality. Long, acid led finishing – impressive.
2018 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Chenevottes
A little nose but of attractive purity – a real invitation. Supple but fresh, a good texture and a mobile, interesting mix of flavour – the finish is intense and long – ooh excellent again.
Parcel from parents towards the top. ‘It’s my reference for all the other wines, never high alcohol, never low. The 79 was at least as good as my dad’s Montrachet that year.’
A fine width of very faintly spiced complexity – spice lemon. Ooh, incisive, pure, deep flavoured, the intensity ratcheting ever higher. Sooo long! You will still have to wait for ‘delicious’ but this could be a great one!
2018 Puligny-Montrachet 1er La Garenne
‘A parcel from my aunt, made since 2013. More than 80 years old vines, high on the hill, late harvested vs other parcels
Good purity but somehow an ‘easier’ wine than the nose of the last. Frank, acidic, only slowly growing the padding and sweetness to buffer. The finish is very tasty though, with waves of tasty flavour washing over the palate. Long too!
2018 Meursault Narvaux
Hmm – now for something completely different – an attractive nose of faint spice. More supple, some textural padding, but lots of width and fine flavour – Meursault flavour. Almost a relief from the direct, frank wines that precede it – great finishing too! Excellent!
2018 Meursault 1er Charmes
A higher parcel on the Puligny side of the climat, almost touching on Perrières.
Fine, more aloof – but still quite a compact nose. A little more open, an undertow of padded minerality – there’s certainly more richness in these 2 Meursaults – this carried with just a little more energy. Excellent wine!
PY’s Perrières is from the lower part of the vineyard.
Fresher citrus of fine width – pretty and attractive wine. Fuller, fresher, a slightly reductive fruit – but only a suggestion – beautifully textured and extra complex finishing – potentially bravo here!
2018 Corton-Charlemagne
2/3 Pernand the rest Aloxe, PY is considering 30 months elevage here
A touch of smoke but quite a tight nose on this root day! More mouth-filling volume, less purposeful direction than the Perrières. Fine texture, the muscle of Charlemagne in evidence, but a super finish – mineral in flavour and of scale – a super finish!
Vines in Chassagne, just… ‘Bâtard seems to suffer less in hot years – there’s less stress, it has great regularity, it can be generous with grapes so we have to be careful right from the start, removing the buds.’ This and the Chevalier not yet racked
A very different register of aroma here – fuller, citrus but of very impressive depth. Supple, layered, very complex – always with a slightly reductive depth – like the nose – but never dominating. Such a scale to this finish – we are clearly in a different place. This is excellent, potentially great.
Less weight but no less impact from this nose – like the Bâtard with a small reductive element. A little less full but no less concentrated. Fine texture, really great complexity, palate-staining finishing – ooh – no doubt great but much more elevage to come!
If you are still awake, let’s try PY’s reds:
’Over one-hundred-year-old vines in Champs Claude, the problem is that we don’t have an exact age – when I started with my father in 1995 and they were already over 100, there’s only 2-3 % of replacement vines in the parcel.’ Racked about 2 weeks ago. Almost 50% wc, very little extraction – all done by Caroline these reds
Plenty of colour – hmm – this has a nice width of fine fruit on the nose with a faint rose perfume. Silky, depth of texture, to match the depth of flavour. Ooh, this finished spectacularly for a villages Santenay – directly bravo!
2018 Santenay 1er Gravières
Only 60 yo vines! Made like the last.
A little extra focus to the berry fruit here, even a whiff of mint leaf. Fuller – more mouth-filling wine. An extra touch of freshness, the texture of the tannin also more visible – but remains on a minor level. Brighter, wider finishing – less comfort than the VV – but excellent wine all the same!
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