Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey

Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey represents a merger of two prominent Burgundian families. Pierre-Yves is the elder son of Marc Colin, of Domaine Marc Colin in Saint-Aubin, where he was the winemaker from 1994 to 2005. His wife Caroline is the daughter of Jean-Marc Morey of Domaine Jean-Marc Morey in Chassagne-Montrachet. The couple launched a small négociant project in 2001, and in 2005-2006 Pierre-Yves recovered around six hectares of family vines in Saint-Aubin and Chassagne. That is the real founding of Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey.

The domaine is based in Chassagne-Montrachet. Vineyards are a mix of inherited parcels, own acquisitions, and négociant fruit across Saint-Aubin (1er Cru En Remilly, Les Combes, La Chatenière), Chassagne-Montrachet (Chenevottes, Vergers, Maltroie, Caillerets, Abbaye de Morgeot, Ancegnières), Puligny (Folatières, Enseignères), Meursault (several lieux-dits), plus Grand Cru Corton-Charlemagne, Chevalier-Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, and Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. A little Bourgogne Blanc and Hautes-Côtes de Beaune Blanc round out the catalogue. Reds are few; Pierre-Yves is overwhelmingly a white specialist.

The two distinctive moves - both widely read as responses to the premature oxidation that has plagued modern white Burgundy - are the 350-litre demi-muid and the long élevage. Where most Burgundy uses 228-litre pièces, Pierre-Yves uses demi-muids: fifty percent more wine in contact with only ten percent more oak, which means less oak extraction and more texture. And where most whites age twelve months, his go eighteen months, sometimes longer. Native yeast fermentation, no bâtonnage, minimal racking, no fining or filtration, bottles sealed with wax. Partial new oak.

The house style is precision and tension - cool, mineral, reductive-leesy, built to age. Caroline launched her own label, Domaine Caroline Morey, in 2014, working parcels from her family's inheritance. They continue to share cellar space in Chassagne. Pierre-Yves's sons Mathis and Clément - who have interned at Chave, Tempier, and Dujac - are now involved in the domaine.

Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey is widely considered one of the foremost white Burgundy producers of the modern era, collected internationally, allocated through the usual top channels.