Description
Created in 1987, the Marsannay Villages appellation is a relatively new one in Burgundy but an ancient and well respected source of fine wine. Located on the southern outskirts of Dijon at the northern end of the Côte de Nuits, Marsannay missed out when the first Villages appellations were handed out in 1930. But it wasn’t because the terroir was deemed inferior. It was simply that there was very little Chardonnay or Pinot Noir planted.
The terroir of Marsannay is based on the same complex Jurassic limestone-based geology that runs the entire length of the Côte d’Or. But for the previous hundred years or more, Marsannay’s winemakers had been focussed on the growing suburban population of Dijon. A task made much more commercially successful with wines made from Aligoté and Gamay.
The Collottes have been grape growers in Marsannay for four generations, but it wasn’t until 1981 that a young, 16 year-old Philippe Collotte bottled the first wine under the name of Domaine Collotte. He subsequently purchased some mature vineyards of about 40 years of age in both Gevrey-Chambertin and Chambolle-Musigny, to further expand the domaine’s repertoire.
In 2013 Philippe was joined by his daughter Isabelle, who had just completed her viticulture and oenology studies at the Lycée Viticole de Beaune. Whilst Isabelle focusses particularly on the production of the domaine’s white wines, there is no doubt that her addition to the team has helped refine the quality of the wines across the board. Today Domaine Collotte farms 17ha of vines (16ha currently in production) in Marsannay, Fixin, Gevrey-Chambertin and Chambolle-Musigny.
Having successfully campaigned for the upgrade to Villages status in 1987, the winemakers of Marsannay focussed their attention on improving wine quality and identifying those terroirs that produced superior fruit. Now, after 30-odd years of hard work and extensive geological surveys, an application has been submitted to INAO for the promotion of the following Marsannay Lieu-Dits to Marsannay Premier Cru status. Domaine Collotte currently releases four of these lieu-dits as single vineyard bottlings: Les Boivins, Les Grasses Têtes, Le Clos de Jeu and Au Champ Salomon.
This a source of accomplished, stylish and very attractively priced Burgundy.
About this wine: From two parcels of old vines; one based on Crinoidal limestone (known in France as Calcaire à Entroques), the other Comblanchien. This wine is very perfumed and pure with real depth, yet showing a lovely minerality and elegance, finishing with great length and very fine tannins.
“2017 – the First vintage. Hmm – that’s a lovely nose with extra florals too – a beauty. This is a wine to sink into as the flavour melts over the palate – slowly a finer, but more more visible, structure as you arrive in the finish. Super wine.” Bill Nanson, Burgundy Report, January 2024
“The 2022 Marsannay “les Grasses Têtes” bottling from Domaine Collotte is outstanding on both the nose and palate. The wine’s refined aromatic constellation reveals scents of black cherries, cassis, grilled meats, dark soil tones, a touch of cocoa powder, discreet notes of fresh thyme and a understated framing of cedar. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and impressively soil-driven in personality, with a lovely core of fruit, fine-grained, moderate tannins and lovely length and outstanding grip on the well balanced and complex finish. Fine juice. 2025-2050.” 91 points. John Gilman View from the Cellar, December 2024
RRP $106 Our Special Price $89.99
(Want more than 6? Click here for Special Buy)
