PYCM and CM 2024's

WINE TALK
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Just getting around to typing up notes from November.

Pierre-Yves Colin is a ripper bloke. He has a fair bit of ‘no bullshit’ about him and could easily be an Aussie in another life. He and wife Caroline also make some of the most engaging wines of Burgundy. We dropped in for an early morning tasting of 2024’s and were joined by a couple of journo’s. One had only 90 minutes to taste. The question from Pierre-Yves to the rest of us was “so, you want to look at 39 wines in 90 minutes”? I think I said ‘hell yeah’ well before anyone else could respond.

Pierre-Yves showed us a sample of everything, from bottom to top. All the whites are made the same way. The whites are made by Pierre-Yves and the reds by Caroline, apart from the Monthélie 1er Cru Les Riottes, which Mathis (their son) has been given free rein to make. There are now no Negociant wines (with the exception of Chevalier), and the 2024 whites will be in barrel, on lees without racking until April/May. This has been the standard for élevage since 2022.

The wines are outstanding in both colours. The whites crackle with energy and have such great clarity and precision. They remind Pierre-Yves a little of 2014 and 2017. The reds are light and full of fruit. It is a cooler vintage but there is no green. Yields for the reds were around 25hl/ha and no new oak was used. Gentle extraction was the name of the game. They are absolutely delicious. Alcohols are modest, playing between 11.7 and 12.8%.

Thank you Pierre-Yves for your generosity. A brilliant tasting!

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Bourgogne-Aligoté : The fruit is from Chassagne (15%) and the Hautes-Cotes (85%). There are light florals and intense citrus. It is very fresh and beautifully balanced. It gets the same treatment as the Montrachet and is such a great entrée into the range.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Beaune Au Bout du Monde : Grown at 350m altitude. Lemon drops, white flowers and chalk. Tight and linear.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin Blanc: Subtle and fruity. There’s light chalkiness. Gently tart and crisp. A lovely line of fine acid.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Hommage à Marguerite : Has a core of fleshy white peach. There are notes of candied peel and aniseed spice too. It is nicely balanced and has moderate chew.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Les Champlots Blanc : Preserved lemon and orange peel. More salinity than the Hommage. Real grapefruit tang and cut.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin 1er Cru La Chatenière Blanc : A gorgeous melange of citrus and flora. Good concentration of fruit. Everything is backlit by electric acidity.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin 1er Cru En Remilly Blanc : Orchard fruits central. Textural and rich through the mid-palate. Good presence and a fresh finish. Off three parcels with an average age of 45 years.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet Vieilles Vignes: A blend of 6 vineyards on the Puligny side. White peach and citrus blossom on the nose and in the mouth. Chewy and lean through the mid. A puff of chalk to the finish.

2024 Caroline Morey Chassagne-Montrachet Chambrées: A blend of 3 vineyards off the mid-higher part of Chassagne. Real lemon fruit intensity. Strict with excellent cut. Some chew and smoky mineral action.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet Les Ancegnières : Two parcels, one that is 95 years old, one that was planted in 2009. Loaded with sappy orchard fruits. Creamy and rich in the mouth. Layered, complex and long.

2024 Caroline Morey Beaune 1er Cru Grèves Blanc: Rich but contained. Candied green melon and apple fruits. Full and relatively soft for the vintage. Finishes with light crunch.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chenevottes : Red apple, preserved lemon and white peach. The fruits are so crisp, yet the wine is full and generous. There’s great build just below the flesh.

2024 Caroline Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers: Dried flowers and crisp white peach. Elegant and layered but there is real latent power here. Lovely balance and flavours linger. Delicious.

2024 Caroline Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chaumées : Crammed with spice laden orchard fruits. Great shape and perfect ripeness. Cut with fine minerally acidity. Very long. Pierre-Yves noted that the vine material in this vineyard is very good.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Maltroie : Perfectly ripe green apple and white peach fruits. Dense and sappy in the mouth. Layered, powerful and long. Super potential here.

2024 Caroline Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs-Gain : Stone fruits and smoky mineral. Voluminous yet contained. Great mineral drive. Highly perfumed and beautifully balanced.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Abbaye de Morgeot : Quite tight. Sappy and dense white peach fruit. Excellent presence and a finish that drives on.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Baudines: There are some fennel tops mixing it up with exquisite orchard fruit aromas and flavours. It is rich and powerful, building quietly through the palate. The finish has chew and authority.

2024 Caroline Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Cailleret: Picked on the same day, within the same hour as the PYCM version. Deep and energetic. Pristine white peach and lemon curd notes. Painfully intense. Super long. Focussed and possesses brilliant cut.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets : A hint of smoky reduction. Dense, compact and detailed. Sappy and layered. Great transparency. The finish is clean, bright and drives on. Will be something special.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Grandes Ruchottes: Explosive and powerful. Oozes minerality. Great depth and chew. Awesome length.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru La Garenne: Blossom and white peach aromas. Silky of texture. Builds and finishes with mineral cut. Good phenolic chew. Off 85-year-old vines.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chalumaux : A new vineyard for PYCM under metayage agreement. Green melon and big squeeze of grapefruit. Plenty of flavour here but also finessed. A touch of reduction.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault: A blend of 4 vineyards. Complex aromas of lime sherbet, dried flowers, chalk and peach. Generous in the mouth with a candied fruit feel. Good cut.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault 1er Cru Poruzots: A fine nose of white peach and almond butter. Sweet orchard fruits at its core. Silky of texture. Moderate cut and some aniseed spice to the finish.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières : So contained yet complex and engaging. Aniseed, mint, white flowers and lemon and lime. Razor sharp. fabulous posture. Powerful and possesses squint inducing intensity. Length is impressive. Great wine in the making.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Corton-Charlemagne, Grand Cru : Rich and powerful, compact and linear. Sappy and chewy. Great structure.

2024 Caroline Morey Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet, Grand Cru: Two barrels only, both second year use. Fine and flinty. Some aniseed and pure white peach too. Light florals and so much delicacy. Beautiful shape, great proportion and balance. Awesome presence and length to burn.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Bâtard-Montrachet, Grand Cru: Two barrels of which one is new. Smoky and sappy, bult around a core of intense peach. Power and concentration without excessive weight. Such great chew. Oozes saline minerality. Finishes with a hint of spice.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chevalier-Montrachet, Grand Cru: Pierre-Yves lost the contract for this vineyard in 2021. The grower rang in ’24 and he picked up some fruit. There will be no 2025. This has some chamomile and white peach. It is very spicy, ripe and layered. It has a line of fine, minerally acidity. The finish is long.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Montrachet, Grand Cru: Pierre-Yves gets around 100-200 litres only of Montrachet from his father in most years. A special, small barrel was fabricated by François Frères for this, made from new and one year old wood. It has incredible richness and poise. There are notes of grapefruit, white peach, vanilla and custard apple. It has great volume and so much power. Length is special. It is unlikely to be be commercially released, used for charity events and functions only.

2024 Caroline Morey Santenay Rouge: 100% de-stemmed. Red of fruit with strawberries front and centre. The scent of violets with air. Light and bright with gentle astringency on the tail.

2024 Caroline Morey Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge: Cherry and berry with light florals. Sweet fruits play on a chalky base. 30% whole bunch here.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Monthélie 1er Cru Les Riottes : Fully de-stemmed. Delicious raspberry fruit and a cool stoniness. There’s saline mineral precision to the finish.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Monthélie 1er Cru Clos Les Champs Fulliot : The first vintage of this wine, with the vineyard located right next to Volnay Clos des Chênes. A slightly darker fruit profile here and some rose petal notes. Very pretty. Plenty of wine. 40% whole bunch.

2024 Caroline Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs Gains Rouge: 40% whole bunch. Sweet red berry and a flinty chalky note. Nice balance and poise. You could drink now with pleasure. Where’s the duck confit?

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Le Clos Saint Jean Rouge : Complex and fine. An amalgam of red and black fruits of density and substance. Ample structure, good presence and drive. 50% whole bunch.

2024 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Boudriotte Rouge: Off two parcels, one 80 years of age and one 40. 50% whole bunch. Richly fruited and silky against the gums. Moderate tannins and fresh minerally acidity.

2024 Caroline Morey Beaune 1er Cru Grèves Rouge: Quite light of colour and 50% whole bunch. Really accessible and spicy and red fruited. Sandalwood, raspberry and strawberry along with some rose petals. Fleshy and balanced. Very tasty.

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Did they recently buy plots of Clos st Jean and La boudriotte rouge? I see these are new wines for them.

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Always love how precise your notes are. Excited for the 24’s.

Question on the lack of negoce wines - so is everything under metyage now? For example, with the exception of the small amount of Montrachet he gets from his father, I thought Batard was the only GC that PYCM actually owned. Mainly curious about the Corton-Charlemagne, Ruchottes, and Meursault Perrieres as I thought those were all negoce. Cheers!

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These are insanely precise and awesome notes for a 90 minute tasting Jeremy! Thank you so much for the write-up, it’s a pleasure to read.

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Yes - love to hear the answer for the following : There are now no Negociant wines (with the exception of Chevalier), …

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Hmmm…doubtful PYCM owns plots there.

If that is the case, he got rich fast or very fast. I remembered well my experience with him years ago when he started his own domaine - when he was visiting Montreal, Quebec, Canada - with his agent in Quebec, Canada. We had dinners twice, one at my friend’s home and one in a restaurant. He is a very humble person…and I made a joke with him that I heard a rumor that he decorated his home all in white…- pure, simple and precise.

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Jeremy … first off, thank you for generously sharing these notes. It takes time and effort to assemble this kind of information.

Second, you’ve been drinking his wines for a long time now. Do you sense any change in the classic PYCM reductive/gunflint style of winemaking? How has his approach changed over the years? Any thoughts?

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Great notes, as always, Jeremy,
Thanks so much! I’ve always been a fan of the Les Ancegnières–now I know why. I could not keep my hands off the 2014’s. I wish I still had some.

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2024 is really killer out of barrel. Definitely a vintage imma load up on

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Yeah same here. I heard 14/17 comparisons on whites all over and what I tasted was so electric.

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It is my understanding that there has been a surprising amount of movement in Burgundy behind the scenes these last few years via outside investment, so I would be curious to learn more. Roulot has Genevrieres now, and Jasper Morris mentioned in a recent podcast that Roumier would be gaining access to a plot of Richebourg - we’ll see.

As for PYCM, these are the Domaine holdings listed in Inside Burgundy, which are accurate as of 2021. It’s crazy that this was five years ago!

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Merci…

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It is my understanding that they now only make wines from grapes that they have farmed, whether it be metayage or an agreement to look after the vineyard, hence a few previous wines are no longer made here.

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Thank you Matthew. If we talk just about the whites, I think over the years the struck match reduction has become less obvious. The whites are still built like red wines, with that great chew that Pierre-Yves winds into them.

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Merci.,Jeremy.

As long as the vineyards are owned or being farmed by PYCM… then they are not negociant wines but domaine wines.

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I hope the 24s show as well as you all say.

The recent PYCM vintages have seemed fine at past Paulees but just lacking in that crackling electricity you aptly described.

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Purchased fruit from Ch de la Maltroye. Like the Ruchottes.

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Hi Robert,

I can’t recall the details, but I thought Pierre-Yves mentioned that they had input into the management of the fruit they took from Ch de la Maltroye.

kind regards
Jeremy

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yep. Already being made. That ownership group has some really fun holdings with some very excellent producers

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I have heard a lot of the difficulties of the vintage and the low amount of overall wine. I’m curious if this will result in even higher prices on offer, or just low allocations generally.