Philippe Colin Saint Aubin Premier Cru Les Combes 2017

Cellar for up to 7 years. Serve chilled.

Philippe Colin founded his own domaine in 2004 after deciding with his brother to split from his family’s Colin-Deleger domaine and pursue a new direction. Despite being a relatively young venture, his domaine has quickly gained a reputation for excellence and has managed to strike a careful balance between tradition and modernity, skilfully blending a new-build winery and historic family vineyards. The domaine currently consists of 11.5 hectares including some highly-prized St. Aubin and Chassagne Premier Cru plots.

The domaine’s signature style reflects the character of Philippe himself who is quiet yet extremely talented. His wines offer tremendous elegance and subtlety with plenty of graceful minerality and precision. In the vineyard and winery he pursues minimal intervention as much as possible, allowing the terroir and the grape variety to take centre stage in his sensational bottlings. This St Aubin comes from the highly sought-after Les Combes parcel which is said to rival Chassagne Montrachet Premier Crus for a fraction of the price. The vineyards are right next to Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru vineyard Les Chenevottes and boast excellent limestone and calcareous soils planted with vines of an average age of 40 years. After vinification the young wine is aged in oak barrels for 10 months with regular lees stirring.

Philippe produces just 9 barrels of this superb wine which is bursting with elegant peach and apricot notes along with sunny lemon zest and hints of toasted nuts. The first sip reveals a silky smooth entry, well-rounded texture and ripe stone fruit notes seasoned with vanilla and a racy acidity which brings the wine into perfect balance. This ageworthy Premier Cru will respond well to extended cellaring and can also be enjoyed now alongside roasted chicken, leafy salads or creamy fish dishes.