2021 Domaine Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Beaune Blanc, White Burgundy, France.
One of the entry level wines of Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, the Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Beaune Blanc (Chardonnay) is absolutely delicious, almost gilt free and stylish stuff with this label’s signature leesy and reductive elements and crystalline precision. The palate has a classic array of yellow fruits and mineral core with bright lemon, apple, Bosc pear and quince fruits perfectly accented by wet stones, hazelnut, bread dough, clove and subtle oak toastiness. Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, or PYCM, as noted before, is one of famous Colin clan with his father and his brothers all being highly regarded vignerons, but these days Pierre-Yves is probably the most revered and along with his wife Caroline Morey of the equally famous Morey family are a true power couple in the Cote d’Or. Now they are based in their new modern winery in Chassagne where they turn out some of the most sought after wines in the Cote de Beaune. The Colin family has some fabulous plots in some of the Cote de Beaune’s best vineyards, from Chassagne to Batard (Montrachet), and Pierre-Yves added some high quality vineyards to his own portfolio, expanding into the Cote de Nuits, with a fine standout parcel in Vosne-Romanée, and father north to the Côte Chalonnaise, where he gets Rully fruit. The Au Bout du Monde (HCdB) is from a high elevation and steep Chardonnay vineyard, one of the cooler sites in all pf Burgundy, up at close to 450 meters, with 20 year old vines with a southwest exposure.
Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, as mentioned many times here since 2010 or so, is one of Burgundy’s biggest stars, he follows a strict protocol and method, using all sustainable and hand tended vineyards, with mostly organic practices in the vineyards, which includes some fabulous terroirs and sites, from Grand Cru to special Lieu-Dit(s) from Montrachet to St. Aubin. In the cellar Pierre-Yves ferments and ages his wines in barrel, with early picks being the norm, using indigenous yeasts and somewhat notably, he prefers larger format 350L French oak demi-muids instead of the classic 228L barriques, with his Village Lieu-Dit wines getting 10-20% new oak and Premier Crus and Grand Crus seeing close to 30% new if not more, depending on the vintage, adding just the right amount of toasty accents. This year saw 10% new oak and was aged for 14 months, plus an additional 3 months in stainless steel before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. The grapes come from that parcel of vines in the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune on clay and limestone soils and (a) climate that promotes mineral intensity and vivid acidity, giving the wine its charm and cool toned personality, which the 2021 vintage highlighted in a more traditional way, than warm years like 2020. These PYCM wines are some of my favorite go to Burgundies, especially the whites, with the Rully and St. Aubin bottlings being exceptionally savvy choices for bargain hunters, though in recent years as they have been more scarce, I have been loving the basic Bourgogne offerings, like this one and recommend them highly. This one was even by the glass, at a local restaurant and paired wonderfully with house specialty raw Salmon Terrine with caviar and crème fraîche!
($65 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive