2018 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru 6-Pack

Colin's 2022 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru shows considerable promise, wafting from the glass with aromas of crisp yellow orchard fruit, freshly baked bread, confit citrus, beeswax and hazelnuts. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and incisive, with good depth at the core, racy acids and a taut, electric profile, it's built for the cellar. The 2022 vintage is another success for Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, in style somewhat reminiscent, at this early stage, of the estate's 2020s. 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 wrote last year, since moving to his new, much colder cellars in Chassagne-Montrachet, he finds his wines retain significantly more free sulfur dioxide for any given addition, and he now feels he added more than was necessary—given these altered conditions—to his 2015s, 2016s and 2017s. So, some subtle adjustments have now been made in this regard, and readers can expect the wines to be a little less buttoned up out of the gates than has been the case in those three vintages. Now Pierre-Yves has so much space, he's also thinking about further extending the élevage of his lower appellations; in the next two or three years, he's contemplating fer

Most of the grapes come from the north-west facing part of En Charlemagne, a choice to avoid too much exuberance. Clear pale colour, a little oak showing at the moment, but even so a touch of exotic fruit alongside the minerals. Quite a weight of white flesh here, a sturdy wine which needs long ageing. Drink from 2029-2036. Tasted Oct 2023.