2022 Domaine Marc Colin Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru

There are two barrels of the 2022 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru, a deep, full-bodied and concentrated wine redolent of pear, hazelnuts, sweet citrus fruit and toasted bread. Layered, textural and multidimensional, it concludes with a delicately honeyed finish. The 2022 vintage is the finest I can remember tasting at Domaine Marc Colin—and with years such as 2017 and 2020, the last decade has been mostly benevolent. As readers will remember, now that the domaine is smaller following his two brothers' secessions, he is able to be ultra-precise about harvest date, sampling parcel by parcel, he tells me, and small volumes of wine mean longer élevage is feasible too. Percentages of new oak are modest, but foudres and larger barrels are also out of the picture, Damien finding most coopers' 228-liter barrels more consistent and in any case, better adapted to vinifying smaller quantities.