The Wines of Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey

Many Burgundian winemakers are around the Bay area this week leading up to La Paulee festivities, and Pierre-Yves Colin showed some of his wines from 2008 to 2010. All of the wines were pristinely pale, so I did not bother to note their colors individually.

• 2010 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Les Combes Blanc

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Saint-Aubin 1er Cru

  Ripe, even honeyed nose. Round, rich entry with a touch of wood and mint leads into a really fine mineral, lemony finish. Pretty amazing volume and feel for a wine from this commune. A bit of sulfur shortens it a bit for now, but this will resolve over time.

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• 2010 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Les Champlots Blanc

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Saint-Aubin 1er Cru

  Leafier, more herbal profile than the Combes. Not as ripe or concentrated as that wine; less upfront weight but good finishing intensity with a lovely, rising wave of citrus. Some mid-palate menthol, a milky/leesy aspect, more soil than the first Saint Aubin.

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• 2010 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin 1er Cru La Chatenière Blanc

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Saint-Aubin 1er Cru

  Fragrant with a more floral aspect than the other Saint Aubins. Like the Champlots, also some lees, this time with bright orange zest. Seductive feel with good acidity and excellent minerality. Harmonious and long. Perhaps the most complete and balanced of the wines from this commune.

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• 2008 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault 1er Cru Gouttes d'Or

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  Aromatically, some typical hazelnut and pear, but then some unusual thyme as well. Bigger, richer and more volume than any of the Saint Aubins. Fruit is downplayed. You feel the wood, but it is very well absorbed into the wine. Already complex and mouthcoating. Tremendous lemon and limestone burst at the end. This is just delicious.

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• 2008 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Embrazées

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Subtle nose. Faintly lactic and citric with floral elements. Delicate yet some creaminess to it. Very long citric, soil inflected finish. This picks up sweetness and weight as it goes. No wood imprint here. The style and texture are wonderful.

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• 2009 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Baudines

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Obvious oak toast leads the way. Bigger, rounder than the '08 Chassagne. Some churned butter and orange oil. Enough acidity to retain its balance, but the wood tannins are intrusive at the end. If I were tasting blind and had been told that there was one Meursault in this series, in all honesty, I might have guessed that it was this wine.

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• 2009 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Maltroie

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Ripest, most tropical nose of all the wines. Again, the oak is front and center. Fruit has a pineapple quality which transitions to a good citric finish with adequate acidity. The wood makes the finish frankly bitter even if the mouth feel is still good. This is the least balanced wine and the only one that displays any clumsiness in its vinification.

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• 2009 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chenevottes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Much more laid back, classic and high toned than the 2 other '09 Chassagnes. Absolutely lovely juxtaposition of richness and real airiness. Leaner than the others. Uniquely spicy, a touch of herbs, great citric cut and acidity. Most complex and not at all marked by wood. This is gorgeous, and it is hard to imagine a more perfect Chassagne Premier Cru. Incredibly stylish for the vintage.

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• 2009 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Butterscotch and cinnamon spice. Rich and very silky with a deft touch of wood that is beautifully folded into the wine. Not a huge Grand Cru but subtle, savory and leesy with ripe fruit very much in the background. Moderately long finish. Very different from the Chevenottes, although I'm not sure that it's better. I am quite sure that it should not command almost four times the price of that wine, which offers about the same amount of Burgundian goodness. Oh well, that's just hierarchical Grand Cru madness.

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This was an absolutely revelatory tasting for the harmony and great texture of the wines from each of the communes represented. The Saint Aubins outperformed expectations of this appellation by a wide margin, and three of the other Premier Crus ('08 Meursault Goutte d'Or, '08 Chassagne Embrazees, and '09 Chassagne Chenevottes) were simply stunning. Yes, a couple of the '09 Chassagnes seemed too oaky, but even the worst of these was not bad.

Bravo, Colin-Morey! May the rest of Burgundy week here be just as pleasurable as these wines were.