Burgundy 2012 Day 3: Visit to Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey

After lunch, we sped 40km down the Cote to visit Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey in Chassagne. Pierre-Yves is the eldest son of Marc Colin and was responsible for the winemaking at the eponynous Domaine Marc Colin from 1995 to 2005. He had dabbled in some micro-negociant bottlings from around 2001, before fully setting out on his own in the 2006 vintage. It did not take him long to establish a reputation as a rising star, crafting a suite of lovely St Aubins from domaine-owned vines to go alongside a mix of owned and negociant wines from Meursault, Puligny and, of course, Chassagne.

I have had a few real gems from the domaine in recent years, and this was a visit that I was eagerly anticipating. We had a lighting quick tasting (as we were slightly delayed by the rain and Pierre-Yves had to run off for a meeting at his children's school), but it was a good chance to meet Pierre-Yves and chat with him about his philosophy and wine-making.

Everything we had here reaffirmed the reputation that the domaine is begining to build - the wines all had a generous richness and scale to them, but were also underpinned by pitch-perfect balance and a lovely sense of definition and minerality. I particularly liked how pure and transparent the wines were as well, each speaking clearly of its terroir. This is another domaine clearly on the rise - long may its good work continue.

• 2011 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin Le Banc Blanc 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Saint-Aubin

  A great start to the tasting, this St. Aubin village really punched above its weight. It had a charming nose, with sweet lemons and ripe apple scents swathed in lots of white flowers. The palate was lithe and elegant, with luscious flavours of honey lemon, pink grapefruit and orange blossoms lent a clean, light-footed feel by the wines bright acidity. I thought this was perfectly balanced all the way into a lovely mineral finish. A superb village - as good as one could ask for in a humble St. Aubin. It will drink well young, but has the bones to develop nicely in the midterm as well.

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• 2011 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Les Combes Blanc 92 Points

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

  This was a nice little wine, clearly a little step up from the lovely St. Aubin La Banc village that preceded it. The nose was a little deeper, more minerall, with notes of earth and chalk running under aromas of white fruit, guava maybe, apples and a little floral touch. The palate showed a lovely sense of tension undergirding round, open flavours of green pears on the attack and sweeter hints of nectarine on the midpalate. Great balance here, with juicy acidity pulling the wine into a finish where slightly salty mineral notes emerged. I really liked this wine. Like the rest in the portfolio, it should be delicious young, but also has the potential to age over the mid-term. I would personally pop these some three or four years after release while keeping a few bottles aside to see how they develop.

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• 2011 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin 1er Cru En Remilly Blanc 92 Points

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

  This was my favourite of the three St Aubin whites that we tasted. Perhaps not quite as ready as the Combes that preceded it, but I suspect this will age longer and better. It had a beautiful nose, with a bit of chalky earth, some interesting notes of green peppercorns and spice, then red apples, lemons and nice floral accents. The palate was marked by plenty lovely, juicy acidity - to the point that it was almost a bit too bright in its youth, but this afforded the wine a great sense of tension underlying its bright flavours of green apples and pears as they pulled away with a pure, juicy depth on the midpalate. One could see the family resemblance between this and the other St Aubins on the flight, yet it was the subtle differences that set this apart from me. The stern backbone faded a little at the finish, where the wine came across as round, fleshy and pleasing, very tasty in fact, with mouthwatering acidity that caused each sip to call out for the next. A lovely young wine, and one that should make a great drink some 3-4 years after release. Of the three St Aubins, this is also the one I would most confidentally leave aside to age for significantly longer than that. Very good.

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• 2010 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chenevottes 92 Points

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

  Yet another very acomplished wine, though I must say that the trio 2011 St Aubin's that preceded it were so good that there was not much to choose between these. if anything, this was a bit tighter and less giving. The nose was classic Chassagne, with gentle oak notes framing subtle, but attractive scents of ripe white fruit, nectar and honeyscukle flowers floating over some mushroom and peppercorn inflections. The palate was rather richer and riper in its white-fruit and pear attack than the other wines we had, with a good amount of extract and texture. But this was also laced with a nice mouthwatering crispness and more citrussy notes of juicy lemons on the midpalate, so that the wine always showed a laser-like sense of focus and definition. There was just a bit of heat here that threw me off a little, but past that, the heat quickly dissipated into long, minerally finish, with ginger and honeyscukle notes lingering amidst nice pear flavours. A very solid wine, perhaps a little on the ripe side, but one that should age very nicely. I would give this a good 5-6 years to develop in the bottle.

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• 2010 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières 93 Points

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

  This lovely Folatières was my favourite wine of the tasting. Really complex on the nose, it started with a little cheesy pong that blew off relatively quickly to show lovely aromas of red apples, ripe pineapples and a flowery perfumed wed to a a nice waft of caramelised walnuts and little spicey notes. Such a pretty bouquet. The palate was really juicy, like taking a bite of fresh fruit, with a mouthwatering crunch of fresh green apples on the attack, more lemony notes on the midpalate, and a finish underlined by a gentle stream of chalky, slatey minerality trailing away into the distance. Perfectly balanced and proportioned, this went down with a deceptive easy, yet it is also a wine with the depth and balance to age effortlessly. It would be difficult to keep your hands off this if you had any, but it should reward 5 to 6 years of patient cellaring.

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