J F Coche Dury Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru 1988 750ml

Burghound.com/ Tasted: Nov 18, 2004
(with thanks to Dr. Michael Chen). A fully mature and beautifully complex nose exhbiits notes of dried white flowers, citrus and an almost pungent wet stone character that is also reflected by the equally complex, intense and still wonderfully vibrant medium-bodied flavors that exhibit excellent mid-palate concentration before culminating in a hugely long, balanced and gorgeously textured finish. This really fans out on the palate and while the acid spine is firm, there is almost none of the '88 austerity that characterizes so many whites of that vintage. In sum, this is terrific and still drinking well though I underscore that there is no further upside development to be had. Tasted twice with inconsistent results.

The Domaine was established in the 1920s by Leon Coche. Some vineyard plots with established grapevines were purchased and Leon bottled some wine himself.The vineyard land was passed down to Leon's three children, with Georges Coche taking control of his share in 1964 and continuing to run the estate and purchase new vineyard land. Jean-Francois Coche took over from his father Georges, on his fathers retirement in 1973. Jean-Francois's wife has the surname Dury which was added to the name of the estate.
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.

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