The 2024 Saint-Aubin en Montceau 1er Cru comes from southwest-facing marn soils, some of Colin's oldest vines, around 75 years old. It has a more marine-influenced, oyster shell and seaweed-tinged bouquet that gains intensity in the glass. The palate is well balanced, more tensile and mineral-driven with a crisp line of acidity, very harmonious with a dash of spice towards the persistent finish. This represents one of Damien Colin's strongest cuvées this year.(NM)

Originating from a site where marl sits over limestone and the soils are lighter in color, the 2024 Saint-Aubin 1er Cru En Montceau is another highlight this year, delivering notes of orange oil, freshly baked bread, beeswax and iodine, followed by a medium- to full-bodied, deep and layered palate that is racy and pure, with mouthwatering acidity and a long, saline finish. In 2024, Damien Colin began the harvest relatively late, on September 14, and it concluded on September 22. While he lost some 5% to 10% of the crop to frost that affected vineyards in Saint-Aubin, the principal cause of low yields—as for many growers—was intense mildew pressure throughout the season. Average yields stood at around 35 hectoliters per hectare for the whites, with lower-than-average pH levels and wines reaching, for the most part, between 11% and 11.5% potential alcohol at harvest. Nevertheless, he chose not to chaptalize, in pursuit of greater freshness. Despite these challenges, the wines largely belie the difficulties of the year. Pure and incisive, they are immediately legible, with each appellation clearly articulated by site and by its de facto hierarchy. From a stylistic standpoint, they inhabit a middle ground between 2011 and 2014.(WK)