I love the wines of Coche-Dury. I seek them far and wide. Unfortunately, I do not find them with any frequency. Often when they are available, I cannot pull the trigger because the pricetag is bit too generous to the retailer. I just have a hard time rationalizing Grand Cru pricing for a village wine that is sold at the domaine at the same price as everyone else's, even if the village wine is of Grand Cru quality! Over the last year, I have gotten a bit more reconciled as to pricing, but still have not been able to cross paths with too many bottles. What I have learned from all this scrambling is that one does not say no to any wine made by Coche-Dury; even the lowliest of appellations are wines of stunning complexity and ageworthiness!

Jean-Francoise Coche is simply the finest architect of the chardonnay grape on the planet. I am a very big fan of a number of other top producers, but I can think of no predominantly white winemaker who can reach the same summits that Coche routinely scales. His wines tower over the chardonnay playing field in much the same way that Henri Jayer's wines do in the realm of pinot noir. They share a freshness of fruit, a viscosity and creamy texture, precise soil inflection, and the ability to age cunningly for decades. I remember Robert Parker once stating that if Coche's wines were to be faulted for anything, it was that they matured more quickly than most domaines in the Cote D'Or. My own experience is just the opposite of this. Coche-Dury's wines seem to be some of the longest-lived chardonnay-based wines made anywhere. Even the lowly Bourgogne Aligote and Bourgogne Blanc improve immeasurably with a few years cellaring.

As the tasting notes below attest, Coche-Dury wines are among the great treasures of the wine world. For those successful in their quest for Coche wines, I strongly suggest that you defer gratification until the wines have hit their apogees. While each vintage possesses its own unique curve of maturity, it is possible to link Coche's wines to other producer's wines to arrive at a general rule of thumb as to when the wines are ready. In general, Coche's Aligote is ready to be drunk at the same time as most producers' village wines. In vintages such as 1992, this would be at age five. His Bourgogne Blanc should be drunk one year later. The Meursault AC, Meursault "Chevaliers", Meursault "Casse Tetes" (no longer made) and Meursault "Rougeouts" age along the lines of the finest Premier Crus in the Cote de Beaune. When the likes of Sauzet's Puligny "Combettes", Leflaive's Puligny "Pucelles", Lafon's Meursault "Perrieres" and Ramonet's Chassagne "Ruchottes" have arrived at their magical peaks, it is also time to have at Coche's village and lesser Premier Cru wines! Coche's Meursault "Perrieres" drinks at the same time as the biggest, most serious Grand Crus. The Corton-Charlemagne ages on the same curve.

While Coche-Dury is synonymous with profound white wine, the domaines reds have gotten better and better with each succeeding vintage. They share with the white wines an opulence and viscous quality on the palate that is only found in the very finest Burgundies. From the likes of Volnay Taillepieds and Clos des Chenes (the two vineyards that comprise the Coche Volnay Premier Cru bottling) this depth is not completely surprising, as they are among some of the finest vineyards in Burgundy. But the Auxey-Duresses Rouge and Monthelie also share this wonderful Coche palate feel, albeit at a slightly less intense level. Aromatically, all these wines display the profound perfumes that Coche routinely attains. I once made the error of assuming that these "lesser" reds were to be drunk early on, but after wasting a precious handful of 1990 Auxey-Duresses rouge, I have learned the error of my ways. Everything now is given its rightful time in the cellar.

While the domaine's claim to fame is its brilliant Meursaults and Corton-Charlemagne, there is a new Coche wine on the horizon that may well slide into the quality hierarchy just below the Meursault "Perrieres" and Corton-Charlie. Coche has recently purchased a parcel of old vines in Puligny-Montrachet "les Enseignieres". This "village wine" is well-situated just below Batard-Montrachet and Bienvenues-Batard Montrachet. With the arrival in Puligny-Montrachet of Dominique Lafon and Noel Ramonet, as well as Jean-Francois Coche, the competition in Puligny is going to really heat up over the next couple of years. Hold on tight, it is going to be one extraordinary ride!

The Wine List:
1992 Bourgogne Aligote
1993 Bourgogne Blanc
1992 Bourgogne Blanc
1992 Meursault AC
1991 Meursault "Perrieres"
1988 Meursault "Chevaliers"
1986 Meursault AC
1986 Meusault "Casses Tetes"
1983 Meursault "Casse-Tetes"
1982 Meursault "Casse Tetes"

The Red Wines:
1992 Volnay Premier Cru
1990 Volnay Premier Cru

1992 Bourgogne Aligote

Even Aligote is turned to gold in this cellar. The nose is stunning: apple, lemon, minerals, floral tones, and a touch of vanillin wood. Medium-full and very Meursault-like on the palate, with Coche thickness and shape, fine delineation, and a complexity that no one else in the world achieves with this lowly grape. This wine will age gracefully for five to six years! A revelation. 1996-2002. 88.

1993 Bourgogne Blanc

This is another beautiful bottle of Meursault. Okay, the label says Bourgogne Blanc, but this wine tastes like a medium-bodied, very complex Meursault! The nose is lovely: pear, lemon, floral tones, loads of minerals, and a touch of vanillin oak. It is tight, fresh, and quite unevolved. On the palate the wine is medium-bodied, very complex, and laser-like in its focus, with brisk acidity adding to the wine's cut on the finish. It is very unevolved (I can't believe this is Bourgogne Blanc!), and really cries out for another three or four years of cellaring. Like the 1992 below, this wine completely transcends its appellation. 1999-2003. 90.

1992 Bourgogne Blanc

What can you say? A stunning wine: apple, lemon, a touch of honey, minerals, spring flowers, a touch of hazelnut, and sweet vanillin oak. Medium-full, crisp, and complex on the palate, with a shocking core of fruit, crisp acidity, and a long, complex finish. There was a time in the not too distant past when I did not adequately respect how serious this cuvee really is! I could have had a couple of cases of this wine in the 1990 vintage, and I only bought a half dozen bottles, and then proceeded to drink them up over the first six months! What a fool I was! Still a year or two away from its peak! Better than most Meursault villages. 1998-2003. 91.

1992 Meursault AC

I had this wine very early on (why?...because I had to, it was on a restaurant winelist, where it was going to remain for about three weeks), and wished it could have been forgotten in the cellar for six or seven years. Simply profound, transcendental village wine. The nose is classic Coche: buttered apples, lemon, wheat toast, hazelnuts, minerals, spring flowers, and sweet vanillin oak. Crisp, racy and closed on the palate, with Grand Cru concentration, lovely Coche viscosity, and a long, complex, beautifully focused finish. Great, great stuff. 2000-2010. 93.

1991 Meursault "Perrieres"

Another profound showing for this domaine's wine: deep, rich and just packed with thick, viscous fruit. It is almost impossible to believe that this is from the 1991 vintage! The nose soars from the glass with scents of apple, honey, pear, lemon, grilled nuts, vanillin oak and Corton-Charlemagne level minerals. Rich, opulent and racy on the palate, with middle-age resolution to the fruit, crisp acidity, and a long, whiplash of a finish. While this stunning wine has everything, it does not have a lot in reserve, so it is best had in the next three to four years. 94+. 1995-1998.

1988 Meursault "Chevaliers"

How does one evaluate vintages when Coche-Dury is in the mix? There are not many wines from this vintage that excite me in the least, and yet here is this village wine that ranks as the second best wine I have had from the year. Only Marc Colin's 1988 Montrachet has shown better than this wine! A lovely showing: apple, lemon, butter, a hint of nuts, minerals and vanillin oak on the nose. Medium-full, deep and complex on the palate, with a long, crisp, snappy finish. Really amazing stuff for a hollow year such as 1988. 1995-2000. 93.

1986 Meursault AC

Mere words cannot do this wine justice! This is Grand Cru quality without a doubt; in fact it is very similar in flavor profile and impact of impression to Chevalier-Montrachet. The nose is incredibly deep and concentrated; this is essence of wine: apple, passion fruit, white truffle, minerals, a hint of nut, spring flowers, cinnamon, and buttery new oak. Deep and profound on the palate, with incredible concentration, coupled with laser-like focus and perfect structure. This wine is young, and transcendental in its completeness of flavor and integrity of nuance; there is not one component that is not part of the integral whole. It is flawless, essence of wine. One of the most extraordinary white wines I have ever tasted! 95. 1995-2010.

1986 Meusault "Casses Tetes"

Coche has lost the rights to sharecrop this vineyard. For quite a while this wine and a Meursault "Charmes" (leased by Comtes Lafon prior to Dominique Lafon's assuming the head of that domaine) were two of the stars of the house. An outrageously spectacular bottle: maturing chardonnay nose of buttered apples, lemons, honey, hazelnuts, minerals, and a deft touch of new oak. Fabulous complexity and depth of fruit on the palate, with crisp acidity, layers of perfectly ripe fruit, great focus and length, and a long, snappy, whiplash of a finish. Grand Cru weight and depth, as usual. A great, great wine, but I am not sure that this is actually better than the 1986 Meursault AC. 1995-2003. 95.

1983 Meursault "Casse-Tetes"

Quite mature in color. The nose offers up mature notes of honey, hazelnut, buttered apples, lemon zest, minerals, geraniums, and sweet vanillin oak. Beautifully mature, and yet quite fresh. On the palate, this is a wine that requires attention; it would be all too simple to just quaff the wine without really savoring its freshness and complexity. Full-bodied, mature and harmonious, with just enough acid to frame the wine beautifully. Textbook Coche concentration and length on the finish. A fine, fine wine most assuredly at the end of its apogee, but as of yet, still not beginning its delicate slide into decline. 1996-1998. 93+.

1982 Meursault "Casse Tetes"

A bit sulfury on the nose (which never quite blew off), but underneath, an immense wine of stunning depth and balance. The nose offered up pure scents of apple, pear, lemon, minerals, a touch of honey, and a deft touch of vanillin oak. Like all Coche wines, the depth, texture, and concentration transcended its appellation. Fine acids add clarity and focus to this delicious wine. Into its apogee, and just beginning to show a few signs of imminent decline. Still, this is a lovely bottle, but drink it fairly soon. 1995-2000. 90.

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Red Wines:

1992 Volnay Premier Cru

This is a blend of a parcel of 36 year-old vines in Clos des Chenes and 7 year-old vines in Taillepieds. This is one of the finest wines of the 1992 vintage that I have tasted. The nose is wonderful: red cherry, quince, vinesmoke, roses, thyme, rosemary, minerals, hints of coffee, and cedary, spicy wood. The most Musigny-like Volnay I have tasted. Medium-full and just packed with fruit on the palate, with Coche's incomparable viscosity, fine tannins and acidity, and a long, complex, amazingly concentrated finish. Is this really 1992? A phenomenal wine, but best drunk over the next four to five years. Just wait until the Taillepieds vines reach a decent age! 1996-2000. 91+.

1990 Volnay Premier Cru

While most 1990s are wines of immense depth and powerfully ripe fruit, this wine is much more polite in delicate in constitution. However, while it does not share the immense opulence of the best ‘90 Volnays, it does share the intensity of flavor and perfume. The nose is lovely, with an intense, red fruity nose of cherry, quince, strawberry, coffee, herb tones, minerals, roses, and a deft touch of vanillin oak. Not typical of Volnay, but rather, classically Coche. Medium-full, but very, very stylish on the palate, with a creamy texture that Coche's white wines also display. Round, concentrated, and very stylish on the palate, with ripe, round tannins buried in fruit on the long finish. A lovely, lovely wine for drinking over the mid-term. 2000-2015. 93.