Product Information:
The Premier Cru Les Riottes kicks it up a notched, more layered, concentrated with a touch more earth and spice nuance than the earlier drinking Monthélie village. An excellent buy for serious Bungundy fans, looking farther afield. This 1er cru Monthélie begins with a touch of smokiness, before revealing redcurrants, cranberry fruit and blackcurrants. Uplifted exotic spice and even hard candy. There's a fine chew to the tannins, carrying the flavour seamlessly for a long, fresh finish.
Les Riottes is a premier cru climat of Monthélie, a step above village. Monthélie positioned between Volnay and Meursault, looking out at the first hills of the Côte de Beaune. Facing south and south-east, on pebbly Bathonien limestone topped red clay and marl. Some of the vines are growing on the Volnay side of the village, and some on the Auxey-Duresses side Elevation is between 230-370 metres.
“This is not just one of the top domaines in the Cote de Beaune in Burgundy, Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey is now well recognised as one of the greatest winemakers and domaines in the world. Consistently producing benchmark wines in each vintage.” - Jancis Robinson
All the wines are made in 350 litre barrels, with crushed and cooled grapes, no settling of the solids after pressing, no lees stirring either, an early and rapid fermentation, then malolactics followed, finished by Christmas. The crushing and long pressing give a more concentrated dry extract. They were worried at the harvest by the relatively high pH levels, but the certainly don’t taste that way. The first two whites and the reds were racked before the harvest, the rest still in barrel. Note that in 2022 almost all the wines are from their own domaine, excepting Corton Charlemagne, Chassagne-Montrachet Baudines and part of the Meursault blend.
Maker:
“This is not just one of the top domaines in the Cote de Beaune in Burgundy, Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey is now well recognised as one of the greatest winemakers and domaines in the world. Consistently producing benchmark wines in each vintage.”
Established as one of the young rising stars of Burgundy, Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey in 2005 left his family Domaine, Marc Colin, where he gained a solid reputation for his outstanding white wines. Pierre-Yves took control of a share of the family vineyards (Domaine Marc Colin) from 2006 vintage. His first vintages have been made from vineyards and growers that he works closely with buying the wine as must and aging the wines in barrels which he has supplied. If the resulting wines meet his standards the barrels of wine purchased are then matured in his own cold cellar below his house in Chassagne Montrachet.
The Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey estate was born in 2001 from the association of Pierre-Yves Colin (son of Marc) and Caroline Morey (daughter of Jean-Marc). Today they operate 13 hectares in the villages of Saint-Aubin, Chassagne-Montrachet, Santenay, Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault. Their production consists of 92% Chardonnay, 5% Pinot Noir and 3% of Aligoté grape variety. Working about 2 hectares from the family heritage, the other plots have come from different acquisitions over the last fifteen years, as well as a few plots in Fermages.
Philosophy:
The Chassagne vineyard dates back to the years 280 AD. Historically, the vineyards of Chassagne were mainly planted with Pinot Noir; the Grands Crus and some other plots were white (Chardonnay grape). In 1935, the INAO was created and set itself the task of defining appellations in order to ensure their quality and enhance them. It was also at this time that the Grands Crus of the Montrachet hill were delimited.
The vineyard is located between 220 and 340 meters altitude on clay-limestone soils. Most of the hillside vines are based on Jurassic lands (-201 million to -145 million years old). Descending towards the plain, the soils are more recent, dating from the Quaternary (2 million years ago) and come from the erosion of the upper layers. Since the 1990s, the village has seen its proportion of vines planted with Pinot noir decrease in favour of vines planted with Chardonnay. Today, the village is world famous and renowned for its white wines, particularly thanks to the Grands Crus of Montrachet.
Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey white wines are whole bunch pressed and fermented with native yeast. Ageing up to 16 months for Bourgognes, St Aubins and more than 18 months for top end white wines with no lees stirring in a very cool cellar. The red wines get partial whole-bunch ferments (about 30%) with very gentle pumping over and gentle vinification designed to maximise freshness and finesse. Long untreated corks for most wines and bottles sealed with wax. The resulting wines are built to age classically up to 10 years or more.
Nose - Toasty Red Berries, Turned Earth, Five Spice
Struck-match, red fruits and iodine. A hint of confection and sweet spices.
Palate - Charry Red Black Fruit, Juicy, Silky
Rich in fruit and with a firm, compact but really smooth tannic structure. Supple but dense
Finish - Firm, Smooth, Fresh Finish
Lovely balance between ripeness and structure with a fresh minerality in the finish.
The Finer Details
Style - Red Wine
Varietal - Pinot Noir
Country - France
Region - Burgundy
Vintage - 2022
Bottle Size - 750ml
ABV - 13%
