2009 Chassagne Montrachet Les Ancegnieres

The 2009 Chassagne-Montrachet Les Enseigneres is remarkably inward for the year. Light on its feet, it shows gorgeous inner tension that buffers the fruit in a harmonious, classy style. With time in the glass the fruit begins to emerge, hinting at what is in store for the future. The rich, textured finish is long and utterly impeccable. This is shaping up to be a beauty. The vines here are more than 80 years old. Anticipated maturity: 2014+. Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey is one of Burgundy’s most exciting young producers. Colin-Morey works with six hectares of vineyards, three of which are estate owned, while the rest are sources of purchased fruit. According to Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, the key to 2009 was picking early. The harvest started on the September 4. Colin-Morey did a long, slow press, with no batonnage once the wines were in barrel, all with the aim of preserving as much freshness as possible given the natural ripeness of the fruit. Roughly 80% of the wines were aged in 350-liter barrels, larger than the norm in Burgundy. Colin-Morey finished bottling the 2009s in April 2011. Colin-Morey told me he wasn’t enthused about the 2009s at first, but now thinks the wines have enough freshness to age well. A Daniel Johnnes Selection, imported by Michael Skurnik, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300; also imported by Bertin Henri Selections, 10900 N.W. 21st Street, Unit 180, Doral, Florida 33172 tel: (305) 343-4054

(these vines are always picked at the beginning, noted Colin) Citrus fruits and flowers on the reduced nose. Fat and sweet but with a strong spine of acidity. A good bit of CO2 and a suggestion of residual sugar make this a bit disjointed today. This cuvee is usually much easier at this stage. Today the 2008 is more harmonious.