Montrachet Grand Cru
Montrachet Grand Cru with its 8 ha has 16 owners, i.e. 0.5 ha per owner. Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru with its 12 hectares has 30 owners - 0.4 hectares each! Pierre-Yves owns exactly 0.1 hectares. Batard-Montrachet lies right at the foot of Montrachet. Sometimes this becomes a real problem during frosts, as the frosty air accumulates, and the soil is deeper and freezes faster. In a good year, however, the wines here are more intense and fruitier than in the upper Montrachet. Some say they lack elegance and freshness. Perhaps. But Batard-Montrachet has its character.
Moreover, the logic is that in a cold year, Batard-Montrachet acquires the necessary elegance, while Montrachet simply lacks ripeness. Conversely, in a hot year, Batard can be unbearably fat and dense. Pierre-Yves' family also owns 0.11 hectares of Montrachet, but this is the only vineyard of which Pierre-Yves did not receive a single piece during the family division.
Saint-Aubin 1-er Cru En Remilly: A Rising Star in White Burgundy Wines
The next vineyard is Saint-Aubin 1-er Cru En Remilly. Saint-Aubin is a small appellation of one hundred and fifty hectares, planted in a small hollow north of Chassagne-Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet. Saint-Aubin produces decent red and white wines with a good price/quality ratio. Today, the white wines of Saint-Aubin are increasingly heard from critics and are often ranked alongside Meursault. Saint-Aubin 1-er Cru En Remilly is located right above Chevallier-Montrachet Grand Cru, slightly contiguous with it by its borders.
Several reasons contribute to the current popularity of Saint-Aubin wines. Firstly, over the last 20 years, there has been significant warming throughout Burgundy. This has become a problem for some grands crus but has been a real boon for other, cooler vineyards. Secondly, it was simply the wrong thing to do here before. In the 1970s the proportion of red and white wine production was 60/40, now the opposite is 40/60. Chardonnay was given a chance to prove itself in the vineyards that suited it, and it justified it to the full. It should also be remembered that Burgundy wines, alas, continue to rise in price and people are actively looking for a price alternative. For the Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, and Chassagne-Montrachet trio, there are virtually no alternatives other than Saint-Aubin.
Pierre-Yves' wife's parent winery is in Saint-Aubin, so they were fortunate enough to buy some of the best premier cru vineyards here before their prices were almost equal to their more famous neighbors. Pierre-Yves and his wife own 0.65 hectares in En Remilly and almost as much in Saint-Aubin 1-er Cru La Chateniere. According to the Lambier Wines team, the best Saint-Aubin wines tend to be much more interesting than the mediocre village categories of Chassagne-Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet, even though they cost the same money. They are especially good when they are young, in the first 5-6 years of their life they are ready to give you maximum pleasure.
Chassagne-Montrachet's Treasures: Morgeot and Caillerets 1-er Cru Vineyards in the Hands of Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey
Moving on to the Morgeot 1-er Cru and Caillerets 1-er Cru vineyards in the village of Chassagne-Montrachet. In a nutshell, these are some of the most respected 1-er Cru in their class and a dream for any winemaker in the vicinity of Chassagne-Montrachet. Pierre-Yves owns 0.65 and 0.18 hectares here respectively. It is worth noting that none of the vineyards that make up the total of 11 hectares of Domaine Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey reaches the size of even 1 hectare. Such is Burgundian minimalism.
In Pursuit of Wine Perfection: The Unique Cellar Practices at Domaine Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey
In the cellar of Domaine Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, you will find exceptional cleanliness and orderliness. Barrels stand in even rows, separated by vintage, vineyard, and wine color. The only thing that may surprise you is the size of the barrels, most of which are 350 liters instead of the usual 228 liters Burgundy barrels. There are also very small oak barrels of 150, 124, and even 100 litres. With such fragmented vineyards, there is sometimes not enough wine to fill one standard 350-litre Burgundy barrel. Pierre-Yves personally prefers 350-litre barrels. This way, he achieves optimum oxidation while minimizing the influence of the oak itself. Domaine Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey uses about 20% new barrels. Pierre-Yves is a proponent of letting the wine mature on its own for 15-18 months, with minimal outside intervention (no batonnage) and no filtration. No artificial yeast is used here, and the decision on malolactic fermentation is made by nature alone, depending on the year of harvest.
A few secrets
In Pierre-Yves's cabinet, in addition to books and photographs, there is a small but capacious selection of bottles of Coche-Dury and Domaine de la Romanee-Conti (Burgundy's most iconic and expensive wines) on the shelves. Pierre-Yves himself admits that Coche-Dury is a kind of model for him that he is trying to follow. According to Pierre-Yves, they have everything, some more, some less, but most importantly, no element is overlooked: acidity, ripeness, depth, complexity, elegance, potential. Some sommeliers, especially here in France, are fixated on acidity in wines. But thinking only about acidity, it is difficult to achieve depth, for example. Pierre-Yves has certainly set the bar high, but it is worth noting that he is very good at what he does, and the team at Lambier Wines is confident that this very talented winemaker will surprise us more than once!