2023 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey St-Aubin 1er Cru "Chatenière"

The 2023 Saint-Aubin La Chatenière 1er Cru has more reduction on the nose compared to Colin's other Premier Crus. The palate is fresh on the entry, quite intense with a little flintiness in the background. Once the 2023 is in bottle, its razor-sharp finish is going to be a killer. This might need a bit more time in bottle but it's a superb articulation of this vineyard.(NM)

Aromas of pear, white flowers, nutmeg, toasted hazelnuts and clear honey introduce the 2023 Saint-Aubin 1er Cru La Chatenière, a medium to full-bodied, ample and satiny wine that's seamless and saline. Precise but open, this 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)