2017 Saint-Aubin En Remilly 1er Cru

Jean-Baptiste and Benoît Bachelet have overseen a raft of marvellous wines from their 10-hectares of vine and their winery in the heart of the village of Gamay. "We are biodynamic, although without certification, so we did not have many [dry] windows to treat the vines. It was much easier at the end. We did not lose any production to oidium. We had to use sulphur in the vineyard and then in the hot weather, the sun burnt some of the bunches, so we lost a bit of production there, especially for the older and less vigorous older vines. We harvested from 31 August with the Chassagne reds and finished on 7 September. It took about one week. The yields was around 55hl/ha for the whites and 35hl/ha for the reds. We had been expecting rain at the beginning of August so we were not expecting such big yields. We believe in two winters for the élevage. They wines will be blended in tank next February, then bottled beginning of August."

Long-term readers will be aware of the esteem in which I hold this domaine, based in Gamay. In recent years, they have built up a loyal following of wine-lovers who adore their mainly white crus that focus on Saint-Aubin, yet extend into Chassagne- and Puligny-Montrachet, including a prized plot in Montrachet. For me, their range really shines at Premier and even Village Cru level. Damien Colin is a congenial winemaker who has pushed quality to greater heights in recent years. He started off by explaining the recent amicable division between himself and his brother. “My brother Joseph has created his own domaine with six hectares and so Caroline and I will keep 12 hectares,” he said. “Some vineyards go to him entirely and others are split between us. Joseph has his own family and so naturally he wanted his own enterprise.” Some of the minutiae of the division and reconfiguration of holdings can be found in the tasting notes, but basically the crus that will no longer appear under “Marc Colin” but “Joseph Colin” henceforth include Puligny La Garenne, Saint-Aubin Clos de Meix, Sous la Roche Dumay and Sur Le Sentier du Clou. I will try to taste Joseph’s wines in future, but I was unable to do so this year due to time constraints.

“We had no problem with the frost in 2017,” Damien continued. “There was some pressure of mildew but none during the harvest. It was more difficult in July when it was hot. The harvest began on September 2 and it went well, taking place over nine days. The vinification was normal. One thing that has changed is that from 2017, all the wines spend six months minimum in tank after 12 months in bottle, and now we have more space in the winery that makes this possible. It gives more freshness and density to the wines, but keeps the same style. Also, I use slightly larger barrels, 300 and 350 litres in size for the whites, to moderate the influence of oak.”

This was yet another strong set of performances from the domaine and perhaps with fewer cuvées to tend, Damien Colin can focus even more attention on quality. Amongst several Saint-Aubins, the Le Charmois really stood out as a scintillating expression of the 2017 vintage, and the Les Combes, en Creots and en Montceau were not far behind. Generally, I probably found more “bite” amongst the 2016s last year, but the 2017s are still very fine examples of the appellation and excellent value. Of course, the Montrachet is a brilliant wine, though a recent sensational 2009 was a reminder that it benefits from bottle age. Damien uses DIAM throughout his range.