2008 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

This address in Chassagne-Montrachet is quickly becoming one of my go-to stops for chewy, rich white Burgundy that appears to have real staying power. Pierre-Yves Colin says that 2009 reminds him of a great classic vintage of the '80s-"a year like '85 or '89. The wines have a lot of body and richness but also a lot of white flowers-and almost too much fruit. They're textured but also fine and high-pitched. It's also a vintage with a rather fragile balance, not a vintage to push. And it's easy to make boring wines in 2009." He went on to explain that the wines need to be worked with oxygen. He had already racked his wines with air, but had put them back in the barrels with all their lees. They're very concentrated wines, yet Colin admits to having made the full permitted yields. Natural alcohols ranged from 12.3% to 13.1% and Colin chaptalized most of his wines lightly to extend the fermentations and facilitate integration of the oak. For his 2008s, Colin decided to prevent the last 20% of the malolactic fermentations from occurring; he racked and blended his various wines, then put them back in barrel with an SO2 addition. The reason for this approach? He found a huge difference in the wines before and after the malos, and he didn't think the post-malo wines were high-pitched enough. Since they began without much tartaric acidity in 2008, he did little or no batonnage. Colin describes the wines as "slight now but also round and fruity. They remind me of the good 2001s." (A Daniel Johnnes Selection; imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; Atherton Wine Imports, Atherton, CA)

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)