Marc Colin 'La Chatenière' 1er Cru Blanc, Saint-Aubin, Burgundy, France 2023
Domaine Marc Colin was established by Marc Colin and his wife Michèle in the late 1970s in the village of Saint-Aubin, nestled between Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet on the Côte de Beaune. Drawing on inherited parcels from the Colin and Ponavoy family lines — some in the family for over a century — Marc built the estate from approximately 6 hectares to what is now a 12-hectare domain spanning 26 appellations across Saint-Aubin, Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, and Santenay. Today the estate is led by Marc's children Damien and Caroline Colin, who have further refined the house style toward precision, purity, and minimal intervention, vinifying with low sulfur to allow the terroir to speak freely. The estate holds some of Saint-Aubin's most prized Premier Cru parcels, and La Chatenière — consistently cited by critics as one of the reference sites of the appellation — is among its finest cuvées. Jasper Morris MW has named La Chatenière one of his favorite Saint-Aubin Premier Crus, and Domaine Marc Colin is widely recognized as one of the benchmark producers of the village.
- Winemaker: Damien Colin and Caroline Colin
- Farming: Partly sustainable, partly organic experimentation. No herbicides; soils worked regularly. Hand harvested.
- Variety: Chardonnay 100%. Vines approximately 60 years old.
- Terroir: La Chatenière 1er Cru, Saint-Aubin AOC, Côte de Beaune, Burgundy. La Chatenière is a southeast-facing Premier Cru on the steep, stone-rich hillside slopes of Saint-Aubin, with poor, stony limestone-dominant soils rich in iron oxides. The exposure and shallow, well-drained terrain force the vines to root deeply, concentrating flavor and developing the piercing mineral salinity and floral aromatic lift that characterize the climat. Saint-Aubin's Premier Cru vineyards sit adjacent to the classified sites of Chassagne-Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet, benefiting from similar Kimmeridgian-influenced limestone at a historically undervalued price point.
- Vinification: Grapes pressed whole cluster; must settled, then barrel fermented with indigenous yeasts. Minimal sulfur use throughout. Fermentation and aging on fine lees in barrel.
- Aging: Aged in French oak barrel with a low proportion of new oak, in keeping with the house's emphasis on terroir expression over oak influence.
- Tasting Notes: Pale gold. Floral and tightly wound on the nose — white flowers, crisp stone fruit, green apple, citrus zest, and toasted hazelnut. The palate is medium to full-bodied with a satiny texture, precise chalky extract, and a long, saline, mineral-driven finish. Slow to open; best with time in the glass or bottle.
- Food Pairings: Pan-roasted halibut, lobster with beurre blanc, grilled sea bass, poultry with mushroom cream, and aged Gruyère.
Marc Colin 'La Chatenière' 1er Cru Blanc, Saint-Aubin, Burgundy, France 2023
Domaine Marc Colin was established by Marc Colin and his wife Michèle in the late 1970s in the village of Saint-Aubin, nestled between Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet on the Côte de Beaune. Drawing on inherited parcels from the Colin and Ponavoy family lines — some in the family for over a century — Marc built the estate from approximately 6 hectares to what is now a 12-hectare domain spanning 26 appellations across Saint-Aubin, Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, and Santenay. Today the estate is led by Marc's children Damien and Caroline Colin, who have further refined the house style toward precision, purity, and minimal intervention, vinifying with low sulfur to allow the terroir to speak freely. The estate holds some of Saint-Aubin's most prized Premier Cru parcels, and La Chatenière — consistently cited by critics as one of the reference sites of the appellation — is among its finest cuvées. Jasper Morris MW has named La Chatenière one of his favorite Saint-Aubin Premier Crus, and Domaine Marc Colin is widely recognized as one of the benchmark producers of the village.
- Winemaker: Damien Colin and Caroline Colin
- Farming: Partly sustainable, partly organic experimentation. No herbicides; soils worked regularly. Hand harvested.
- Variety: Chardonnay 100%. Vines approximately 60 years old.
- Terroir: La Chatenière 1er Cru, Saint-Aubin AOC, Côte de Beaune, Burgundy. La Chatenière is a southeast-facing Premier Cru on the steep, stone-rich hillside slopes of Saint-Aubin, with poor, stony limestone-dominant soils rich in iron oxides. The exposure and shallow, well-drained terrain force the vines to root deeply, concentrating flavor and developing the piercing mineral salinity and floral aromatic lift that characterize the climat. Saint-Aubin's Premier Cru vineyards sit adjacent to the classified sites of Chassagne-Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet, benefiting from similar Kimmeridgian-influenced limestone at a historically undervalued price point.
- Vinification: Grapes pressed whole cluster; must settled, then barrel fermented with indigenous yeasts. Minimal sulfur use throughout. Fermentation and aging on fine lees in barrel.
- Aging: Aged in French oak barrel with a low proportion of new oak, in keeping with the house's emphasis on terroir expression over oak influence.
- Tasting Notes: Pale gold. Floral and tightly wound on the nose — white flowers, crisp stone fruit, green apple, citrus zest, and toasted hazelnut. The palate is medium to full-bodied with a satiny texture, precise chalky extract, and a long, saline, mineral-driven finish. Slow to open; best with time in the glass or bottle.
- Food Pairings: Pan-roasted halibut, lobster with beurre blanc, grilled sea bass, poultry with mushroom cream, and aged Gruyère.