Joseph Colin Breaks Down St. Aubin, the 2019 Vintage, Climate Change, & Non-Intervention from Bud-to-Bottle

Joseph Colin Breaks Down St. Aubin, the 2019 Vintage, Climate Change, & Non-Intervention from Bud-to-Bottle

“I want to deliver rocks and terroir in the glass…” – Joseph Colin

Joseph Colin Breaks Down St. Aubin, the 2019 vintage, Climate Change, His Philosophy for Transparency from Bud-to-Bottle 1In early March we went live on Instagram with Joseph Colin, the son of Marc Colin & and younger brother of Pierre-Yves Colin. After Pierre-Yves left in 2003 to start his now famous PYCM, Joseph took over Domaine Marc Colin with his two younger siblings, having worked with his father since 1993– at the age of nineteen.

In 2017 Joseph followed in his older brother’s footsteps, by peeling over six hectares from the original family property to begin his own story. In the case of the Colin family, the parcels they were given include some of the choicest nuggets of Chardonnay soil on the planet, with the mother lode centered in and around St. Aubin, Puligny, and Chassagne.

Joseph knows the rocks and vines in this white Burgundy mecca like few others, meticulously caring for each parcel like his own personal garden. The wines are all top examples of this most sacred of Chardonnay terroirs, with an electricity and verve that is sought yet so rarely found.

Below, Joseph Colin shares some 30 years of insight into St. Aubin, white Burgundy, farming, and rocks, all to illuminate what makes this kaleidoscope of vineyards and expositions so fascinating.

THE FULL INTERVIEW

 

A TIMESTAMPED BREAKDOWN OF THE INTERVIEW

0:00 – Introduction of Joseph Colin & the landscape of St. Aubin

5:12 – Joseph’s beginnings & working with his father, Marc Colin

13:39 – Joseph on working full-time at the family winery at 19

19:27 – On developing his own practices for farming & winemaking

22:32 – On the advantages of using Diam corks

26:58 – The 2019 Vintage

28:41 – A note on Aligote 2019

30:38 – How the extremely hot, dry August of 2019 affected wines

34:31 – Saint-Aubin ‘Compendium’

46:57 – More on the 2019 Vintage & its affects on Joseph’s wines

47:50 – Saint-Aubin 1er ‘Sur le Sentier du Clou’

53:00 – Saint-Aubin 1er ‘Sous Roche Dumay’

58:13 – Saint-Aubin 1er ‘La Chateniere’

1:03:49 – Saint-Aubin 1er ‘En Remilly’

1:09:39 – Puligny-Montrachet ‘Le Trezin’

1:14:36 – Chassagne-Montrachet

THE WINES

Wine and Spirit Label 1

Saint-Aubin ‘Compendium’, Joseph Colin

  • From 7 parcels in St. Aubin
  • 2/3rd from Le Banc and from Champ Tirant, 1/3rd from Tope Bataille, Au Bas de Jorcul, En l’Ebaupin, Les Vellerottes
  • 20+ year old vines
  • 350-400m average altitude
  • Clay-limestone soils, with lots of stones
  • Indigenous yeast
  • Aged in older 500L barrels
  • Unfined and unfiltered
Wine and Spirit Label 2

Saint-Aubin 1er ‘Sur le Sentier du Clou’, Joseph Colin

  • 70+ year old vines
  • From the highest and steepest section of the vineyard
  • 350m altitude
  • Indigenous yeast
  • Aged in 2/3rd older 500L barrels and 1/3rd older 228L barrels
  • Unfined and unfiltered
Wine and Spirit Label 3

Saint-Aubin 1er ‘Sous Roche Dumay’, Joseph Colin

  • From the liue-dit “Sur Gamay”
  • Parcel runs up the entire slope
  • 20+ year old vines
  • Very little clay and lots of limestone (90% chalk)
  • 350m altitude
  • Indigenous yeast
  • Aged in 2/3rd older 500L barrels and 1/3rd older 228L barrels
  • Unfined and unfiltered
Wine and Spirit Label 4

Saint-Aubin 1er ‘La Chateniere’, Joseph Colin

  • 45+ year old vines
  • Very steep slope
  • Reddish clay with lots of limestone (20cm of dirt)
  • Indigenous yeast
  • Aged in 2/3rd older 500L barrels and 1/3rd older 228L barrels
  • Unfined and unfiltered
Wine and Spirit Label 5

Saint-Aubin 1er ‘En Remilly’, Joseph Colin

  • From a parcel in the center of En Remilly
  • 35+ year old vines
  • One of the rockiest sites in St. Aubin – very difficult to replant vines
  • 70m from Montrachet
  • Indigenous yeast
  • Aged in 2/3rd older 500L barrels and 1/3rd older 228L barrels
  • Unfined and unfiltered
Wine and Spirit Label 6

Puligny-Montrachet ‘Le Trezin’, Joseph Colin

  • 60+ year old vines
  • The highest altitude vineyard in Puligny
  • 500m altitude
  • Very windy and cold site
  • White clay and limestone
  • Indigenous yeast
  • Aged in 2/3rd older 500L barrels and 1/3rd older 228L barrels
  • Unfined and unfiltered
Wine and Spirit Label 7

Chassagne-Montrachet, Joseph Colin

  • From 3 parcels all surrounding Grand Cru Criots Batard Montrachet
  • 70+ year old vines
  • Lieut dits: Les Meix Goudard, Blanchot Dessous, En Journoblot
  • Clay-limestone soils
  • Indigenous yeast
  • Aged in 2/3rd older 500L barrels and 1/3rd older 228L barrels
  • Unfined and unfiltered

A MAP OF THE PARCELS

Click the map to zoom in!

Joseph Colin Breaks Down St. Aubin, the 2019 vintage, Climate Change, & Non-Intervention from Bud-to-Bottle 8

RESOURCES

Parcel Map PDF

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