My friend M. from H.K. told me that I need to - no, that I absolutely have to - get a white Burgundy from Colin-Morey because winemaker Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey likes Riesling. Good advice is always at a premium no matter where you are and so I started to look for wines from said producer.
I found a 2008 "Le Trezin", a village wine from the Puligny-Montrachet AOC, which is known for its exquisite white wines. The wine's cork was sealed with with wax, which meant that there was going to be a mess followed by embarrassment in front of my dinner guests. But that was perfectly acceptable. Less so, though, was the heavy glass bottle of the Le Trezin. I was displeased.
After I had opened the bottle and vacuumed the floor I noticed an intriguing smell of oak in the air. That normally makes me turn away from a wine, but in the case of the Trezin the oak was very subtle and it was rather spicy than sweet. Despite the spice the aroma was very fresh and mineral. I was excited.
Montrachet in the Beaune arrondissement of Burgundy's Cote-d'Or is probably one of the most famous vineyards in the world, known for producing Chardonnay wines with incredible finesse (Montrachet's red wines made from Pinot Noir have a lesser reputation than those from the neighboring Cote des Nuits). Montrachet is situated right in the middle between the villages of Puligny and Chassagne, so both villages appended the name of this famous vineyard to their own name (as it is the custom in Burgundy). Montrachet (pronounced mon-rash-ay) shares its total size of 8 ha evenly between the two villages.
Colin-Morey's wine "Le Trezin" is called Puligny-Montrachet, but it has nothing to do with the famous Montrachet Grand Cru vineyard. The name "Puligny-Montrachet" in this case only refers to the village itself. A Grand Cru Montrachet (or Le Montrachet, if the wine is from Chassagne) would not have the village name on the label, only the vineyard with the term Grand Cru underneath it. Premier Cru wines, on the other hand, do mention the village name along with the name of the Premier Cru vineyard. Still, my wine Puligny-Montrachet "Le Trezin" was not a Premier Cru, because the French wine law requires the term Premier Cru to be appended to the vineyard name on the label. In other words, although Montrachet was mentioned on the label of my wine plus "Le Trezin" it was a simple village wine because neither the term Grand Cru or Premier Cru were mentioned. It's as easy as that.
In any case, on the palate the Trezin was dry and overall I was pleased to taste such a refreshing wine with high acidity but only medium alcohol and body. A very lively and energetic Chardonnay with this really elegant spice note. But not just that: I tasted primarily citrus fruit, with ripe and slightly bitter apple appearing after I decided to decant the wine. I find it interesting to compare a wine before and after decanting and the Puligny-Montrachet "Le Trezin" definitely gained in depth after it had been exposed to air for a half hour. The wine had a nice long length with a finish of spice and minerals.
This is a truly exciting Chardonnay, so concentrated and yet so lively and fresh, with just the right amount of spice. Indeed, a wine of such elegance seems odd in a chubby bottle like this.
For more information on Colin-Morey I recommend Jancis Robinson's article Making Chassagne more like Riesling, in which Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey says: “I love Riesling. Riesling is the model for me."