Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chaumees

Simon Colin launched his micro-négociant 'laboratory' in 2017 at age 24 — before inheriting 9.3 hectares of family vines in 2021 — training first at Domaine Étienne Sauzet in Puligny and completing a harvest in Oregon, a deliberately cross-regional education rare in a village where most producers never leave. Les Chaumées Premier Cru occupies the upper, cooler fringe of Chassagne-Montrachet where the appellation borders Saint-Aubin, on chalky-mineral soils that drive the cuvée's taut, saline character and pronounced acidity rather than the rounder, clay-inflected weight found lower on the slope at Les Vergers. Fermentation is conducted in barrel with indigenous yeasts, followed by malolactic fermentation in vessel; aging runs approximately 12 months in a mix of 228L barrique, 350L demi-muid, and concrete egg — with ~25% new French oak for this Premier Cru, then 3–4 months in tank before bottling under natural cork. The deliberate restraint on new wood — a conscious departure from the more opulent, oak-forward style of his father Philippe Colin's generation — keeps the chalky terroir signal unobscured. In 2022, a warm and generous vintage, Les Chaumées delivers ripe citrus, honeycomb, and hazelnut with integrated oak and the structural density to develop through 2033 and beyond.