2007 Meursault Les Perrières 1er Cru (Magnum)

Pierre-Yves Colin, who has taken all manner of measures to protect his wines against premature oxidation, advanced the theory that high alcohol levels, whether from late harvesting or excessive chaptalization, can lead to premature oxidation by knocking the wines off balance. "It's crazy to say that wines need 13% alcohol to age for 20 years," he insisted. He waited until September 8 to pick in 2007 but nonetheless brought in fruit with natural alcohol ranging from 11.7% to 12.3%. His richest 2007s are about 12.8% in bottle, while some are more like 12.4%. But the most important element in making stable wines, says Colin, is to allow the wines to make themselves. "Those who bottle before the next harvest have to rush the wine through every step of its development," he said, adding that he does not crush the grapes, does a fairly strong pressing but then no debourbage, and begins with about ten liters of lees per barrel. He's happy when the malolactic fermentations don't finish for nine months, which he describes as "roughly half of my elevage." Colin harvested on the early side in 2008 (he's now doing more of the work in the vineyards he buys from, and has more of a say in choosing picking dates), and had grape sugars between 12% and 12.5%. He did "zero" batonnage, and the wines I tasted, except for the Batard, had finished their malolactic fermentations; most had been sulfited about a month prior to my visit. Incidentally, Colin describes 2008 as "completely different from 2007: more aromatic on the nose and more ample in the mouth, but with a strong acid structure." Still, the 2007s were stunning at the beginning of June. Colin made 70,000 bottles of 2007 (all white wine), more than half of which is Saint-Aubin. The 2007s were bottled in March of 2009 without fining or filtration. Colin ages most of his crus in 350-liter barrels made by Chassin and Francois Freres. (A Daniel Johnnes Selection; imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; Atherton Wine Imports, Atherton, CA)

Pierre-Yves Colin has supplemented his production with several more hectares of vines from the family domain in Saint-Aubin. He uses a single label for all of his bottlings but points out that there's now more estate than negociant wine. Colin describes the 2007s as very minerally, pungent wines with very good length. He had planned to start picking on August 25, then decided to wait until September 1, and then delayed again until September 7, as he was seeking the best possible combination of sugars and acids. With each delay, said Colin, he had to change his team of pickers. At the end of May, Colin showed me the wines that had finished their malos and sugar fermentations, plus the Chevalier and Batard. The 2006s remained in barrel until August of 2007, then were racked into tanks, where most of them remained until they were bottled in March and April of this year. Colin had poured my samples of 2006s into carafes several hours before I tasted them, but a few of them remained minty and reduced (Colin uses generous doses of SO2 at bottling). "I looked for finesse in 2006; it was almost too easy to get fat," Colin told me, adding that he does almost no batonnage. "I was worried about the fruit in 2006, but the wines are now a pleasant surprise." Incidentally, Colin is now using wax capsules for his export bottles, which he told me now comprise fully 90% of his production. (A Daniel Johnnes Selection; imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; Atherton Wine Imports, Atherton, CA)