2023 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet Vieilles Vignes

Aromas of pear, orange zest, beeswax and nutmeg introduce the 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet Vieilles Vignes, a medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered wine that's ample and fleshy, with a gourmand, textural profile that will offer a broad drinking window. Pierre-Yves Colin has delivered another successful 2023 vintage, and almost everything I tasted remained un-racked on the lees, undergoing a long élevage in pursuit of more tension and complexity. As ever, picking tends to be on the early side with a view to retaining freshness. As readers may know, Colin's bigger cuvées are crushed and see four-hour press cycles, whereas smaller cuvées aren't crushed but see even longer press cycles lasting five or more hours. Vinification and maturation in barrel, with a heavy emphasis on larger-format barrels, follow. As I've written before, since moving to his new, much colder cellars in Chassagne-Montrachet's "zone artisanale," he finds his wines retain significantly more free sulfur dioxide for any given addition, so a touch less is being used.(WK)