Joseph Colin

Joseph Colin is a fresh but deeply grounded name in Burgundy’s Côte de Beaune, born from a family whose roots run deep in the region’s winemaking tradition. Since setting out on his own path in 2016, Joseph has quickly established a name with its focus on high quality terroir Côte d’Aubin terroir wines.

History
Joseph Colin grew up in Burgundy’s wine world, the son of Marc Colin, a well-respected producer with vineyards in St. Aubin, Chassagne-Montrachet, and Puligny-Montrachet. After years working alongside his father and older brother Pierre-Yves Colin Morey (who launched his own domaine in 2003), Joseph started Domaine Joseph Colin in 2016. It was a logical step after a long period helping manage the family estate, and allowed Joseph to start making wine with its own ideas and in his own style.

From the beginning, he retained an important slice of vineyards, about 6 hectares spread over classic Côte de Beaune villages, and clearly set out to make wines with mineral-driven freshness. His first full vintage was 2017, and he’s been building a portfolio of about 19 different cuvées ever since.​

The Vineyards
Joseph’s vineyards are scattered across some of Burgundy’s most famous spots, including prime sites in Saint Aubin, Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, and even some parcels near Gamay.

The estates consists of about 6 hectares total, consisting of many small plots, most less than one hectare each. The standout vineyard is the Premier Cru La Chatenière in Saint Aubin, a well known cru due to its rocky and minerally character. Joseph also manages parcels in Puligny, including the high-elevation Le Trézin, with its limestone-rich soil and cool climate influence.

His family’s long history and stewardship in these vineyards mean Joseph knows each plot intimately, pruning and managing yields tightly to produce the highest quality wines.​

The Terroir
The terroir Joseph works with is classic Côte de Beaune: a patchwork of limestone-rich soils with limestone rock, clay, and marl, often quite stony and very well suited to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The vines are at varied elevations, with cooler spots like Le Trézin reaching nearly 500 meters, giving the right acidity and mineral notes. This terroir allows Joseph to produce wines that shine with clear sense of place, tight structure, and real finesse, avoiding overly heavy or extracted styles.

His approach aims to produce what makes Burgundy wines so special: terroir, to express the soil and climate, without too much intervention.​

The Grapes Used
Joseph Colin main production is white Burgundy, making pure and mineral-driven Chardonnay, but also a small number of Pinot Noir cuvées. His wines are loved because of being vibrant, fresh and elegant rather than overtly rich or oaky.

Chardonnay dominates, from Saint Aubin, Puligny, and Chassagne, with yields kept low to have the right intensity. The Pinot Noir cuvées are less numerous but are of high quaility and popular for their purity and balance. Joseph closely monitors the ripeness and timing of the harvest to have bright fruit with the right acidity and minerality.​

Way of Winemaking
Joseph follows a natural, hands-off philosophy in the cellar to express the vineyard’s character as much as possible. He avoids settling or racking juice, does no bâtonnage (stirring of lees), and uses larger oak barrels for aging with minimal oak influence. The wines are not filtered or fined, capturing purity and freshness. This method, combined with harvesting at perfect ripeness and reducing yields in the vineyard to under 7 bunches per vine, creates wines with tight structure, a nice acidity, and mineral terroir notes. The harvest can last weeks to pick each plot at ideal maturity. It shows Joseph’s way of wine making: the highest quality without concession.​

3 Fun Facts
Joseph is one of several Colin family members who have carved out their own domaine from the original family vineyards, reflecting a Burgundian tradition of passing plots to children to start new ventures.

The domain’s name comes from Joseph himself but the winemaking legacy is woven into history, with connections to some of Burgundy’s best-known producers on both sides of the family.

The estate’s cellar and offices are located in the village of Gamay, where Joseph oversees all winemaking close to the terroir.​