Tasted with Joseph Colin in his new cuverie in St.Aubin, 29 November 2022.
Domaine Joseph Colin
21 Rue des Lavières
21190 St.Aubin
Tel: +33 3 80 21 98 76
More reports with Domaine Joseph Colin
Now in his new cuverie in St.Aubin – and Joseph made his 2022s here. There are no signs yet – so until he arrived at the door I wasn’t sure that I was in the right place – Google Maps is only ‘approximate’ at this time. It’s a cuverie that makes use of the hillside so is built on three levels which allows him to do all his work by gravity – the barrel cellar at its base with openings in the concrete to showcase the mother rock – “Yes it took some digging out – but I don’t require either heating or cooling – the temperature should stay 12-14° all year round…”
The family parcel of Montrachet has been shared between the 4 kids – Joseph has 3.5 rows – this year it brought 130 litres, now in a wine globe! Damien, Pierre-Yves and Joseph have touching parcels in Chenevottes and here they will install cables for trace heating to help in frosty times. They have to pre-order the generator which will be delivered in times of need to power the cables.
Joseph on 2022:
“We had a good harvest, not a big harvest – some of my friends said they had ‘big’ – but here not more than 50 hl/ha, so similar to 2020 with perhaps a similar style – but clearly not 60 hl/ha like in 2018… I was scared of sur-maturity but in the end, we still needed to wait for a little on the limestone soils.”
Joseph on 2021:
“All are bottled, I just finished in the last 2 weeks… In terms of volume it’s the worst – worse than in 2016 – maybe 16 hl/ha in the 1ers on average (6-20 the variance) – more like 35-40 in the villages and a bit more in the regionals. Some 1ers had to be assembled as the volume was so low. So 50% volume but closer to 70% less in value. I used zero new oak in 2021.”
The wines…
Last year my impression was – ‘Wow!’ It’s the same for the 21s – a slightly more compact range due to the frost-losses – but I hit these wines on a perfect day to taste – simply a great range!
All these harvested between 12 and 12.5°:
2021 Aligoté Le Jardin de la Côte
11.5 to 12° works fine here – it loses energy if you go further than that.
Direct, fresh, mineral but no rigour – just an invitation. Last harvested parcel – 03 Oct – direct, of course, almost a little melon roundness but also growing broad and finely mouthwatering. Far too easy and deliciously broad finishing – yum!
The cuvée name mixing the two lieu dits in the commune of Chassagne and Puligny. No fining, though the wines are filtered, in general.
More vibrant, quite mineral. A little more heft but here is still a sleek and direct wine – very fine acidity – a faint reduction too today – That’s got a special length for the label. Bravo!
‘Or the 7 terroirs for the US.’ 9 parcels in 7 different terroirs. 6 days of harvesting here.
More airy and perfumed – that’s a beautifully elegant aromatic. Ooh – that melts so beautifully over the palate too – not a wine of power but one of delicatesse and again gorgeously complex and delicious. ‘I remember this style in the 1990s but everyone said it was too pure, too precise, that’s why everyone used a bit more oak in that time’ – Bravo!
2021 St.Aubin 1er Clos du Meix
Together with Olivier Lamay the two producers of this cru. The last harvested in 2021.
Very fine but more direct aromatic – less overtly floral. But here’s just a little more flesh on the bone – still an elegant and beautifully mouthwatering thing – and, of course, deliciously juicy. Super wine!
2021 St.Aubin 1er Les Frionnes
‘In terms of altitude and slope this is a match for Chassagne Caillerets’
Extra depth and extra width – that’s a great nose. Mouth-filling, energetic, with faint oak spice but overall lots of complexity – simply excellent wine…
Oratiore St.Aubin – the old name for SA. Only about 8 hl/ha for this cuvée which blends the produce of Pitangerets, Combe, Sous Roche Dumay (about half the total) Sentiers de Clous and En Vermarin.
That’s a great nose with an unusual almost verbena aromatic. Very silky, direct, widening, growing more saline – super finishing energy – a flavour that just clings to the palate – so clean and mineral. Beautiful wine!
Moving to the hillside of Montrachet from the village of St.Aubin now:
2021 St.Aubin 1er Champlots
A young vine – 7 years old. A steep and cold vineyard – all on high here but often the first 1er to be harvested.
A broader freshness – the lemon-citrus more to the fore. Gas here. Broad, a little muscle and plenty of structure. Really a fine finish – haunting, broad, holding my attention. Impressive stuff.
Broader and more floral. More mouth-filling, rounder, lots of complex citrus. The citrus climbs to another level in the extra-long finish – Great finishing – probably a great wine too!
2021 St.Aubin 1er Murgers des Dents du Chien
0.80 ha but just one larger barrel – about 5 hl/ha
This is also another very perfumed wine – a super invitation. More structure – and a wonderful clarity – only slowly melting over the palate – indeed here’s a wine that despite its size, seems a little tight. It says to wait 2 or 3 years but here is a potentially very high-performing wine.
This nose offers a width with just a faint suggestion of noble reduction – airy and fine. More open and energetic, melting and growing in flavour intensity – juicy, slight sucrosity – just so moreish finishing. The most drinkable of all so far today – Bravo!
From 3 different parcels close to 1er and grand crus.
A different style – despite width the emphasis is on the higher and lower tones – it’s a beauty! Gas. Broad, subtly cushioned but precise and pure – a simply delicious finish – great villages – super finishing – less complex but super involving vs the St.Aubin 1ers.
An extra volume of high floral tones here – that’s super again – and so different. Floral-infused flavours too – and yes – tension! Slowly, minerally mouth-watering, no surprise about the juiciness of this wine but the surprise is the impressive density of the finish – it will take time to open out but it’s great here – but wait 2-3 years!
2021 Puligny-Montrachet 1er La Garenne
A more vertical nose – fresh, golden with mineral support. Properly mouth-filling – at first uncommunicative but then slowly starting to melt its flavours over the palate, filling the spaces, very contemplative wine – still fresh but a very different style of energy and very long.
2021 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er En Cailleret
Mainly 100-year-old vines – ‘a few replacements but they don’t offer many grapes as they are planted directly on the rocks, still, 25 hl/ha in a decent (non-frosted!) vintage’
A more composed width of aroma – rather mineral more faintly floral. Broad and mouth-filling – really some volume here. Only in the finish comes a wave of floral flavour – super finishing but today I’ve an extra passion for the Garenne…
Only about 5 producers, below Batard and Criots – a quite windy area so practically never any botrytis here – relatively deep soil – in this case older vines – planted in 1948 but despite the wind an early ripening place. ‘Vide Bourse has a more alcoholic impression, very like Bâtard.’
Broad, clean and floral – beautiful. Large-scale in the mouth – just a dynamic finishing flavour. Oof – superb – ‘the only place in Chassagne where I had an almost normal yield – 30 hl/ha…‘ Bravo!
Le Red:
2021 Chassagne-Montrachet Vieilles-Vignes
2 parcels – in the plain. 80% destemmed, not much pigeage as Joseph prefers a remontage so as not to extract too much from the stems
Modest colour. Large-scaled aromatics – plenty of graphite minerality mixed with flowers too. Mouth-filling but opens with a nice balance of flavour and structure – this is very well-made. A slight smokiness – perhaps from barrel in the complex middle and finshing flavours. Broad and impressively persistent finishing too – ‘the challenge was only to extract the good in 21 – I could have added colour by extracting more but I don’t think I would have kept all the fruit.’