Tasted in Chassagne-Montrachet, 25 November 2021, 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
More reports with Domaine Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey.
Pierre-Yves on 2020:
“The year started with some risks of frost but turned out to be minimal for our parcels – we lit some candles, in the end probably for nothing – the neighbours who didn’t seem to have similar yields.Very little in the way of problems; starting our harvest the 20 August. We worried about the lack of rain, but again the chardonnay reacted very well – good quality and quantity – the balance seems simply magnificent. The combination of maturity and acidity has so few other vintage comparisons – I’ve never seen it before. I’ve been working since 1995, starting with my father, and you usually get one or the other. So the debut of the harvest was very early – 20 August – looking for the acidity and sugar balance. We were very happy with the quality of the grapes that arrived at the domaine. Easy fermentations – both. A vintage that has frank and precise wines – I find them very sincere and the terroirs are marked…”
The wines…
It’s the same cellar but these wines were already at a stage where they showed more definition than the cuvées of Caroline – yet, many of the cuvées are still work in progress. I would see my notes as conservative as these wines will just get better and better with more elevage..
‘All the wines, like those of Caroline, nothing is bottled – the ‘smaller’ wines are already assembled into tank with the plan to bottle in January. For the rest, the aim is more for bottling in the Springtime:‘
Made from 4 parcels spread across Meursault, Puligny, Chassagne and St.Aubin – made exactly like all the other wines, just a shorter elevage. Not yet labelled Côte d’Or ‘It can be but the clients have never asked for it.’
A compact nose. Mouth-filling, vibrant, slightly mineral, less slightly citrus – a little lime too. A really extra-great finish for a Bourgogne – bravo!
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. Usually harvested about a week later than the vines around Chassagne – patience is always needed.
A little more open with a more overt yellow citrus. Vibrant, more chiselled, with more mineral energy – really juicy. That’s another great wine
Since the 2018 vintage, no more Pernands, as they lost the vines…
2020 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.
More open and more white flower complexity. Cooler fruit – more direct – there’s density here too that’s not really opening yet. Vibrant finishing – a great finish.
2020 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…’
Extra width of aroma but tighter in terms of showing the complexity. Extra depth of flavour here – more considered but also more to see and find. I slightly prefer the previous wine today for the extra juiciness – but this is excellent.
2020 St.Aubin 1er Champlots
Fine citrus freshness – a little more green citrus in this one. Plenty of volume and an open shape to this wine – today a little softness at the edges and holding tight to its flavours but the form of this is excellent, almost a little extra spiciness in this long finish…
2020 St.Aubin 1er Chateigniere
Older vines than Champlots (over 30)
Deeper, also slightly reserved aromatics. Extra volume and energy here, a faint framing with tannin, extra intense flavour of agrume. That’s a super finish again – tons of potential here.
2020 St.Aubin 1er En Remilly
About 60-year-old vines – as was the last.
A little more compact impression. Here is a more driving impression to the flavours, the style more melting and approachable. A width of finishing flavour – no fireworks but a fine and lingering – indeed delicious – impression…
All the previous wines had been racked in the last month. All the following are samples from barrel, sampled from 4 different barrels:
2020 Chassagne-Montrachet Vielles-Vignes
3 parcels in the direction of Puligny – deeper soils here too.
Open, melting, rounder and richer and completely delicious. Not the definition and structure of some but moreish and already very approachable. The finish is really excellent.
2020 Chassagne-Montrachet Enseignieres
The oldest chardonnay vines of the domaine – always an early harvest. A tiny climat, not a lot more than 1 ha, next to the Puligny of the same name, below Bâtard on the Chassagne-side. Racked and back into barrel with gross lees from now.
A little more open – but not a lot! Finely divided, modestly spiced aromatic complexity. Hmm, that’s a lovely mouth-watering style with a complex agrume flavour – again a little easy and not the structure of the St.Aubins but absolutely delicious wine all the same.
2020 Meursault
3 lieu dits; Vireuil, Narvaux, Luchets and Grands Charrons
A subtle width of faintly spiced aroma – attractive and elegant. Bubbling with easy complexity yet the definition is really fine here – this needs a bit more time to show its open complexity but here is a beautifully made, rather elegant wine -I expect, as a minimum, excellent wine here – the finish like most here takes a little jump higher in quality…
‘A parcel from my aunt, made since 2013. More than 80-year-old vines, high on the hill, so late-harvested vs other parcels
Higher tones here – a little tight though. Much more direct and mineral – tension, of course. Beautiful across the palate – fluid, with clarity of flavour – a chiselled wine. This is already a simply excellent Puligny, possibly great with more time/elevage
2020 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Chenevottes
Not much more than 15cm of soil here – below it’s just the rock
A little more open in the width. Mouth-filling, also very mineral but the structure here has a little more padding – the flavour melting easier over the palate – today, not with quite the same clarity as the last wine but showing more ample concentration – and, of course, beautifully textured. Delicious and finished with a little texture of tannin.
2019 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Morgeot
2 parcels; Fairendes and Abbaye de Morgeot
The first wine for while that’s sufficiently open to show some extra floral complexity – nice. Mouth-filling but with freshness and pretty good definition too. Really an extra depth of flavour but I think a tiny reduction is adding to that. Impressive, fuller, complex wine. Very delicious too!
2020 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Baudines
Already a high climat but this parcel is at the very top – late maturing, cooler area.
A faintly toasty nose with some faint spice complexity too – but just a little compact here. Extra mineral. Here is not quite the volume of the Morgeot – though it’s not too far behind – with a more open clarity of flavour, mineral with a faint textural softness. Sustaining a considered, faintly spiced, delicious finish – again with a fineness of finishing tannin.
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.’
High and low tones here but still not completely open. Great presence in these mouth-filling, mineral flavours. Textural with a little tannin, melting with beautiful citrus. This wine is obviously guarding some of its complexity but there’s still an impressive width of finishing flavour here – almost always a great wine here chez PY – I’m expecting it to step up again.
A higher parcel on the Puligny side of the climat, almost touching on Perrières.
A little more open, also a suggestion of more reductive toastiness in the middle. The reduction is visible in the flavour – but first let’s note the volume and beautiful texture of this wine – textured like a red with a framing of the favour with some ultra-fine tannin. Luxurious, sensuously shaped, contemplative and possibly brilliant wine – we will have to wait but if you have the chance to buy the potential for brilliance is here.
2020 Meursault 1er Les Perrières
PY’s Perrières is from the lower part of the vineyard. ‘We’re at the bottom and there’s plenty of soil here so it rarely suffers from the drought.’
Also with a (fainter) touch of reduction but here is also a more open width of aroma. More direct, of course, more mineral but here the minerality has a little soft-touch coating. Wide and impressive finishing – delicious finishing. This is very good…
2020 Bâtard-Montrachet
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. Always tiny grapes, millerandes, always one of the ripest we harvest.’
Much more open, complex, spiced, I see no reduction here. Large-scaled, then open and layered, fine definition to the flavour here – concentrated but still a fine citrus complexity. Subtly but really impressively long. Super Bâtard!
2020 Chevalier-Montrachet
The middle tier of the vineyard
As you would anticipate, there’s an extra waft of freshness to be found here. The flavours not quite ready in the middle of the palate but the shape and definition here are top-level. Melting and impressively concentrated too. This will be an excellent Chevalier – but I think there’s also the chance for more as it takes up the last of its elevage – just like the Caillerets. Great, persistent finishing.
All from Languettes today – no-longer have the Pernand part of this cru.
A little firework reduction – and good width – the rest a little compact. Really mouth-filling and energetic, layered too. Not yet the ultimate in definition – like a few here – but so impressive – almost a little blood orange in the blend of agrumes here I’m sure another great Charlemagne here – bravo!