2022 Montrachet Grand Cru

Since his parents, Pierre-Yves Colin and Caroline Morey, had just left for South Africa, I was welcomed by their son, 23-year-old Mathis Colin, who has worked with his parents for three years. Given his tender age, he has already gained impressive experience, previously working at Jean-Louis Chave (Hermitage), Domaine Tempier (Bandol), one year at Dujac, and internships at Restless River in Hermanus with Craig Wessels. His younger brother, Clément Colin, is also working in Oregon at Antica Terra at the moment. So, that’s the future of the domaine for you.

“The 2022 vintage was looking a bit like 2023,” he tells me. “The difference is that during the 2023 winter, we had a lot of rain, whereas in the winter of 2022, there was much less, and so it was drier in the summer. We started to pick around August 21 or 22 with the Chassagne-Montrachet vineyards (although the Saint-Aubin En Remilly was actually the first due to its southerly exposure). The yields were around 50-55hL/ha for the whites. Alcohol levels are around 12.8% and, depending on the cuvée, chaptalized to 13.0% to 13.5%.”

“We crush the grapes before pressing for three reasons. Firstly, in order to fill the press more efficiently. Secondly, it means you can get 45-50% of free-run juice, and thirdly, extract more lees, which sounds strange as other growers often separate the lees. We keep the lees at the bottom of the barrel as a kind of support. We conduct a long 2.5 to 3-hour pressing and pump into tank with a cooling system for one night, keeping all the lees and using an “agitator” [a kind of rotating arm to mix the contents) to ensure the same quantity of lees in each barrel. All our barrels are 350 liters in size. We use one-third of new oak from Chassin and François Frères. Alcoholic fermentation was quick since the pH was not as low. This is better for the wine as it enhances clarity. The malolactics were all finished before Christmas, though it was not at the same time as the alcoholic. The wines were sulfured before Christmas, and afterward, there is no lees-stirring, no moving of the barrels until racking just before harvest - that creates a bit more space in the winery. We will bottle other cuvées, Premier and Grand Crus, in July next year so that they are 18 months in the barrel.”

One aspect of the Colin-Morey wines is the level of reduction: they need plenty of bottle age and a long decanting. However, in recent vintages, I found this less evident. When I brought up the topic with Mathis Colin, he told me that this could well be the case due to the cleaner lees and adding less sulfur before bottling. Instead, they now make 9 or 10 small additions throughout the barrel maturation. I think this latter change in modus operandi has positively influenced the wines. They seem to carry the sulfur in stride, as it is far less noticeable.

As for the 2022s, this is another very strong set of whites. They are different from the 2021s, in which Mathis Colin admitted his penchant for a little richer and more generous style. Yet, they each articulate their terroirs. Highlights include their Bâtard-Montrachet and the Chassagne-Montrachet Abbaye de Morgeot. Readers should also note their Montrachet. It has been produced in the past, but this marks the first vintage from the domaine’s own minuscule plot after the original parcel belonging to Marc Colin was divided four ways (Damien Colin farms two of those as it is joint with his sister, whilst Joseph Colin has the other). That means just one feuillette is produced, around 160-170 bottles. It is always tricky vinifying wine in such a small vessel; however, I was immensely impressed.