Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne Montrachet Vieilles Vignes 2020

Established as one of the young rising stars of Burgundy, Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey in 2005 left his family Domaine, Marc Colin, where he gained a solid reputation for his outstanding white wines. Pierre-Yves took control of a share of the family vineyards (Domaine Marc Colin) from 2006 vintage. His first vintages have been made from vineyards and growers that he works closely with buying the wine as must and aging the wines in barrels which he has supplied. If the resulting wines meet his standards the barrels of wine purchased are then matured in his own cold cellar below his house in Chassagne Montrachet. The white wines are whole bunch pressed, fermented with natural yeasts, aged on lees for up to 18 months in mostly in 350 litre barrels with no lees stirring and no filtration. The corks used come from one tiny supplier and are extra long and extra wide (55mm x 25mm) for the village, 1er cru and Grand cru wines and are untreated with no paraffin and the bottles are then sealed with soft wax to ensure no problems with premox. The resulting wines are built to age classically up to 10 years or more.

Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey white wines are whole bunch pressed and fermented with native yeast. Ageing up to 16 months for Bourgognes, St Aubins and more than 18 months for top end white wines with no lees stirring in a very cool cellar. The red wines get partial whole-bunch ferments (about 30%) with very gentle pumping over and gentle vinification designed to maximise freshness and finesse. Long untreated corks for most wines and bottles sealed with wax.

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 20th 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… - Pierre-Yves on 2020:

The 2020 vintage is another very promising year for Pierre-Yves Colin, who finds the wines a bit more charming and demonstrative than the more serious, structured 2019s—the latter a vintage we revisited in bottle and which appears to possess considerable aging potential. As readers may know, Colin's bigger cuvées are crushed and see four-hour press cycles, whereas smaller cuvées aren't crushed but see even longer press cycles lasting five or more hours. Vinification and maturation in barrel, with a heavy emphasis on larger-format barrels, follows. - William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

From 4 very old vineyards all located on the northern side of Chassagne close to the Puligny border - 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. - burgundy-report.com

The 2020 Chassagne-Montrachet Vieilles Vignes has turned out especially well. Mingling aromas of pear and orange oil with hints of baking spices, beeswax and wheat toast, it's medium to full-bodied, rich and fleshy, with a satiny attack and a long, chalky finish. - William Kelley, The Wine Advocate, 91 Points

The Finer Details
Style - White Wine
Varietal - Chardonnay
Country - France
Region - Burgundy
Vintage - 2020
Bottle Size - 750ml
ABV - 13.5%