The Colin 2006 Meursault Perrieres smells of musky floral perfume, brown spices, and marzipan; coats the palate with creamy nut paste, chalk, and salt; and finishes with persistent richness yet exhilarating verve. An easy to appreciate example of its great cru, it gained in complexity and in its sense of structure as it took on air, and I would anticipate this justifying at least 6-8 years’ cellaring. In 2005, Marc Colin presided over a division of his estate among his four children, and Pierre-Yves Colin – who had worked at his father’s estate since 1995 and had been making a few barrels of his own from purchased grapes since 2001 – elected to strike out on his own, bottling in his inaugural vintage of 2006 a considerable range of wines in small lots – not all of which I tasted – both from his inheritance in Saint-Aubin and Chassagne and from (presently 30%) contract fruit (largely picked by picked by his own team) in Meursault and Puligny. (He employs the same label for both groups of wines). Colin is one of Burgundy’s unabashed admirers of Riesling, and while he believes in a long elevage for his wines, he does not stir their lees (yet his wines are flatteringly creamy in texture) and professes unconcern as to whether his wines complete malolactic fermentation. (Although I taste no indication that any of these 2006s failed to complete their malo, there is no question most are noticeably bright.) Colin overwhelmingly favors 350-liter barrels over standard (228- or 225-liter) barriques for the freshness and clarity he believes they confer, and even his less prestigious appellations receive 30-50% new wood. Like many in Chassagne, he felt comfortable delaying the commencement of his 2006 harvest until September 21, yet most of the resultant wines hover on either side of 13% alcohol.A Daniel Johnnes Selection imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY, tel. (516) 677 9300; also imported by Atherton Wine Imports, Menlo Park, CA, tel. (650) 328-6639

The 2006 has a bold, extravagant bouquet with dried honey, patisserie and vanilla scents that miss the delineation and precision of the 2007. The palate is nicely balanced and very pure – hints of lemon curd and crushed stone, although it is missing a little depth and persistency towards the finish. I would actually cellar this Meursault for another couple of years to see if it can muster something more. Here, it is overshadowed by the following vintage. Drink 2014-2018. Tasted December 2012.