2009 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

It was necessary to treat the vines against oidium and mildew until early August in 2010, said Pierre-Yves Colin, but in the end he had clean grapes and a superb harvest, "with less than 5% rot." Colin believes that his 2010s have similar acidity to the 2008s, which he describes as a bit more exotic, but that the newer set of wines also possess a better natural balance of vivacity and gras. The 2009s, he continued, are less vivid today but they may have more force than the 2008s and 2010s. "They should be great in ten years." Colin racked the 2009s twice, exposed to air, and a long elevage on the lees in an attempt to "shrink them down." The 2010 malos were almost entirely finished by the date of my visit but the wines had not yet been racked. He did no debourbage and no batonnage, and with the fruit picked with potential alcohol between 12.8% and 13%, no chaptalization was necessary. Colin continues to bring down the percentage of new oak he uses to age his wines. (A Daniel Johnnes Selection; imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; and Atherton Imports, Atherton, CA)

Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey is one of Burgundy's most exciting young producers. Colin-Morey works with six hectares of vineyards, three of which are estate owned, while the rest are sources of purchased fruit. According to Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, the key to 2009 was picking early. The harvest started on the September 4. Colin-Morey did a long, slow press, with no bâtonnage once the wines were in barrel, all with the aim of preserving as much freshness as possible given the natural ripeness of the fruit. Roughly 80% of the wines were aged in 350-liter barrels, larger than the norm in Burgundy. Colin-Morey finished bottling the 2009s in April 2011. Colin-Morey told me he wasn't enthused about the 2009s at first, but now thinks the wines have enough freshness to age well.

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)