Domaine Coche-Dury

Domaine Coche-Dury

Robert Parker describes Jean-François Coche-Dury as "one of the greatest winemakers on planet earth", and few would beg to differ. Painfully small yields and meticulously precise winemaking are what give the wines their character and intensity. His top wines spend an astonishing 22 months in barriques and are lightly fined but never filtered prior to bottling.

What is it that makes a domaine a cult? This is arguably the most sought after internationally of all white Burgundy domaines. You might expect to be able to put a finger on why the wines are so good. Are the yields low? Not exceptionally. Is there some wizardry during the vinification or élévage? Sometimes I think it is just that Jean François Coche-Dury has green fingers! His reds are beautiful, perfumed wines as well, though mostly from lesser appellations. They are destalked and only lightly extracted during a relatively short vinification. They can be an excellent inexpensive choice in restaurants.

These are exceptionally intense, powerful and long-lived wines. They are full bodied but never cloying, with the concentrated fruit always being underpinned by crisp and balanced acidity.
 
Jean-Francois Coche officially retired in 2010 but there will clearly be continuity of style in the hands of his son Raphael who has been working alongside his father since 2003. There have been some changes already in the detail: the vineyards are now all ploughed, and a pneumatic press has been ordered to work alongside the old mechanical Vaslin.
 
The wines are firmly crushed before pressing, which must surely be a factor in the Coche-Dury style, then fermented and matured in barrels using a relatively low percentage of new wood, not exceeding 25% except for the very top wines. The whites are racked in July, when the barrels of a given cuvée are blended, then returned to cask for a second winter, being bottled cask by cask in April of their second year. It should be noted that bottles labelled Meursault without designation of vineyard may come from different vineyards. For example the cuvées of Narvaux, Chaumes and Vireuils are kept separate, though each importer will know which he has ordered and received.
 
My first two visits in Burgundy, as a fledgling merchant in 1981, were to Lafon and Coche-Dury. At that stage and with the money available I felt I could not work with both, so chose the former. Would that I had had the common sense or courage to have taken up allocations from both, which were then available!. As if to rub it in, I found a bottle of 1985 Meursault Rougeots lurking in the back of my cellar in 2008 and it was a sublime bottle of wine, having reached its peak of flavour in unhurried fashion.

Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director and author of the award-winning Inside Burgundy comprehensive handbook.

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£1,144.00 – bottle (75cl)
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2020 Meursault, Domaine Coche-Dury, Burgundy
White
2020
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Full Bodied
Dry
12.5% Alcohol
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1995 Meursault, Perrières, 1er Cru, Domaine Coche-Dury, Burgundy
White
1995
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Medium Bodied
Dry
13.0% Alcohol
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2017 Bourgogne Pinot Noir Domaine J-F Coche Dury, Burgundy
Red
2017
Drink, youthful
Medium Bodied
Dry
12.5% Alcohol
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1997 Meursault, Perrières, 1er Cru, Domaine Coche-Dury, Burgundy
White
1997
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Medium Bodied
Dry
13.0% Alcohol
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2001 Corton-Charlemagne, Grand Cru, Domaine Coche-Dury, Burgundy
White
2001
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Medium Bodied
Dry
13.0% Alcohol
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2002 Meursault, Perrières, 1er Cru, Domaine Coche-Dury, Burgundy
White
2002
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Medium Bodied
Dry
13.0% Alcohol
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2015 Corton-Charlemagne, Grand Cru, Domaine Coche-Dury, Burgundy
White
2015
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Medium Bodied
Dry
13.0% Alcohol
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1999 Corton-Charlemagne, Grand Cru, Domaine Coche-Dury, Burgundy
White
1999
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Medium Bodied
Dry
13.0% Alcohol
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2009 Meursault, Genevrières, 1er Cru, Domaine Coche-Dury, Burgundy
White
2009
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Medium Bodied
Dry
12.5% Alcohol
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2012 Meursault, Domaine Coche-Dury, Burgundy
White
2012
Drink, at peak
Full Bodied
Dry
12.5% Alcohol
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