2021 Domaine Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, Chassagne-Montrachet, Vieilles Vignes, Côte de Beaune, White Burgundy, France.
Interestingly, this 2021 Old Vine Chassagne-Monttrachet from Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey follows suit with the more dense 2020 and 2022 versions and is actually drinking gorgeous right now, in for what is a more classic vintage. Again, the pale straw/gold hued Vieilles Vignes shows off the classic modern reductive style at its best with bracing acidity and tension on the medium to full bodied and vinously textural palate that revolves around lemon, apple, pear, key-lime and golden fig fruits, along with clove spice, smoky leesy hazelnut, wet stones, a touch of orange blossom and subtle wood toast. This PYCM Vieilles Vignes Chassagne bottling which is from high limestone set mature vines, as I always note, is always a special treat and even though not cheap it offers almost Grand Cru excitement and depth, with this vintage being especially impactful. Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, one of Burgundy’s biggest stars, follows a strict protocol and method, using all sustainable and hand tended vineyards, with mostly organic practices in the vineyards, while in the cellar he 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 these days instead of the classic 228L barriques, with his Lieu-Dit and Premier Crus seeing about 30%-50% new wood, if not more, especially in the more intense years, adding just the right amount of toasty accents. There was a lot of appeal here and the more subtle presence, poise and mineral charm of the ’21 in the glass makes this one a more flexible wine with food, and on the night this was brilliant with a range of dishes.
Domaine Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, as I’ve mentioned in my previous reviews, is led by the huge talents of Pierre-Yves Colin, who is the eldest son of the famed Marc Colin, is based in Chassagne-Montrachet in their new cellars there that he shaves with his wife’s label Caroline Colin-Morey. Maker of some of Burgundy’s most sought out white wines, Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, as mentioned here in prior reviews, has made a brilliant career in Chardonnay. Pierre-Yves worked aside his dad and brothers as the winemaker at his father’s domaine from 1994 to 2005, then stepped out on his own founding his own domaine, starting it from family vineyards he inherited from his family and his wife’s side too, also famous and with good parcels of vines in the region. Since that time, he rapidly rose in the wine world, especially with his Saint-Aubin and Chassagne White Burgundies, he has really is a star in the Cote de Beaune and these wines set the gold standard for quality. He and his wife Caroline, join Jean-Marc Roulot and Alix de Montille as one of Burgundy’s elite power couple, and while his top bottlings are spectacular, I am always thrilled with his less pricey offerings, especially his Saint-Aubin lieu-dit whites. 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 and to the Côte Chalonnaise, with great success as well. This 2021 Vieilles Vignes, a little shy and reductive at first opened up nicely and in the end compared well against the more flamboyant and expressive 2020 and 2022 version I tried before this one, and again thanks goes out to my friend Alex Lallos of No Limits Fine Wines for sharing his own bottle with me.
($200+ Est.) 94 Points, grapelive