10 ans de Corton Charlemagne de JFCD par Jancis Robinson

Coche-Dury Corton-Charlemagnes 1997-2006
4 Nov 2009 by Jancis Robinson

On 25 Oct in the little town of Pouilly-les-Nonains, just west of Roanne, Marc and Anne-Marie Robelin (not wine professionals - just the purest of wine lovers) organised a great vertical of Coche-Dury's Corton-Charlemagne, from 2006 back to 1997. This nicely followed on from their similar event 10 years ago when very much the same crowd looked at his Corton-Charlemagne 1996 back to 1986. This was the first time that Jean-François Coche and his son Raphael had had a chance to see such an array of their top wine since the last tasting chez Robelin in 1999.
I sat between the veteran restaurateur Pierre Troisgros and Raphael Coche, 27, who began work at the domaine at the age of 15 and came back full time at the age of 19 in 2001. In 1998 Raphael was at Méo-Camuzet, and in 2000 chez Olivier Merlin in the Mâconnais. He was the one chosen to taste all of these bottles before they were poured to ensure they were in good condition. We had to reject only one, the first bottle of 2004. The night before we had discussed the scourge of white burgundy from 1996 to 2002, approximately, premature oxidation due, they (like others) suggest, to a combination of poor corks, excessive lees contact and bâtonnage and under-use of sulphur, but the Coches maintain that their wines have been free of this problem. Certainly there was not a trace of it in this wonderful tasting.
All of the labels state13%. In fact these wines are all between 12.5 and 13.5% alcohol, although the 2009, which the Coches compare to 1999 and with which they are extremely happy in terms of both quantity and quality, is close to 13.8%, apparently.
These notes provide a great guide to the characteristics of white burgundy vintages since the Coches make every vintage more or less the same.
Dom Coche-Dury 2006 Corton-Charlemagne 18.5 Drink 2012-22
Picked just after 15 Sep. Nice summer with very fast ripening at the end. After 20 Sep the rains arrived and so did the rot. So there's a big difference between those who picked before and after the rains - two very different styles of wine in 2006. Still pale straw gold. Still extremely tight on the nose and, tasting it just minutes after it was poured, one could only just discern a certain nuttiness. Still a little floral. Definitely lighter than the 2005. Lots of acidity. Very fine and elegant but not the most solid white burgundy. These wines are really a guide to the character of recent white burgundy vintages since the Coches make them in exactly the same way each year.

Dom Coche-Dury 2005 Corton-Charlemagne 19+ Drink 2015-30
Very particular year with lots of water pressure - drier than 2003 in fact. Very healthy grapes but if anything a shortage of juice and the wine is very slightly astringent still. Raphael talks of tannin in whites in this vintage. Very rich, exotic nose - really dramatic. Very sweet - almost crème pâtissière. Certainly not juicy and the wine has lots of chew and substance and, apparently, alcohol. You want to wait a while for this. Smells almost chalky and with definitely chewiness. Solid and dense, full and very, very solid. A bit of a sergeant-major of a wine. Firm with a very particular character.

Dom Coche-Dury 2004 Corton-Charlemagne 18.5 Drink 2012-22
Very odd year when the vines seemed to have reacted to the oddity of 2003. Heavy crop and a cold, humid summer so they waited quite a while for picking. They say it's very mineral. Raphael is a fan of this year. Very savoury. Very dry and tart and like a spear - such a contrast to the richness of 2005! Bone, bone dry, You'd have to choose your food with care with this extremely austere wine, which you'd probably want to age for quite a while. A very particular style which I happen to like a lot but it's only for those who appreciate high acidity in a wine. For classicists. Very long and muscular. Great for some, too austere for others.

Dom Coche-Dury 2003 Corton-Charlemagne 17.5 Drink 2006-11
Picked 23 Aug and all was picked by 31 Aug. It had to be Raphael's friends who picked because the regular pickers were still on holiday. Heat spikes rather than drought made this wine. Both leaves and grapes were burnt. The sun was just too strong. Still picked in holiday time. Very small crop. Very low acid so worrying. The juice was the colour of orange juice when pressed. So Jean-François is surprised that the colour of the finished wine is so normal: fairly pale straw. It lacks the ethereal nose of some of the other vintages. Tastes sweet, and rather chestnutty. Flattering but without great structure. Just a little flabby. No residual sugar apparently but it does taste rich - and without great length. Pretty soft - the sweetest of the lot. Definite puppy fat, and 1998 resembles it a bit.

Dom Coche-Dury 2002 Corton-Charlemagne 19.5 Drink 2012-25
Ideal conditions for the vine. Great balance in the vines. The north wind kept the vines healthy. Very classic season and wine. Very good balance in the grapes as well as the vines. Ideal. For Raphael, 2002 was better balanced than the 2005, even though everyone talks about 2005s being a great year. Lovely minerality and struck match quality on the nose. The Coches have hardly tasted it because they are so sure of it and they just have it stashed away in the cellar. Liquorice and refinement but then great depth and weight follows it up. Great length. Dry finish but with great depth and richness beforehand. Wonderful aftertaste and persistence. Real life and elegance. Lovely texture plus depth - a great combination.

Dom Coche-Dury 2001 Corton-Charlemagne 18.5 Drink 2007-13
Dense, concentrated, a good/average year. All his cuvées had good maturity and gras. Though it lacks a little bit of body. Grapes healthy enough. Jean-François warns we shouldn't drink it too early but it's pretty tempting. They weren't hurried to pick. 'A good density for a year classed average' - not least because of the hail elsewhere. Much darker than the preceding vintages. Actually I find the nose very open, much more so than any younger vintage. Quite expressive and open and lively. Fabulous now. Smoky nose and very tense and tight, with lovely layers. Maybe not a dense as some but gorgeous now, a bit like 2004 with accelerated bottle age. Long, savoury, and a great pleasure to drink now.

Dom Coche-Dury 2000 Corton-Charlemagne 18.5 Drink 2006-16
A year Jean-François loves. He thinks it is very flattering and lovely now. Pierre Troisgros pointed out that any sommelier who recommends it will find the table thrilled by its easy butteriness. Of all these vintages, this is perhaps the one that outperforms the vintage stereotype most conclusively. Lovely wine for now - perhaps without the absolute majesty of 2002 but very flattering and with much, much more structure and savour than most 2000s. Not the most concentrated and starting to be a little chewy on the end. The single vintage in which Coche-Dury seems to overperform compared with other Burgundy producers - many of whom have been affected by premature oxidation.

Dom Coche-Dury 1999 Corton-Charlemagne 19+ Drink 2009-25
Jean-François says 1999 was quite like 2009 with its generosity of everything. Not yet ready. A big crop. There is even some oak perceptible here. Very chewy still. Nervy, not the roundness of 2000 for example. Still quite introvert. Still a bit jagged. I would not choose to drink this for really quite a while. A bit austere for the moment but obviously a great, great vintage. Very, very fine and classic and superior. So long!

Dom Coche-Dury 1998 Corton-Charlemagne 17.5 Drink 2006-12
The ripest of the lot by quite a way. Relatively low acid - a very sunny year but average for white - cf the reds. Pierre Troisgros suggests it's a bit of a flirt. Very ripe, very dried fruits. For Jean-François something is lacking - he likes the reds so much - he volunteers that it's a bit like 2003. It is certainly weak and without structure - definitely the weakest so far (when tasting young to old) - tastes a bit dilute and flabby, though the tannins give it a bit of life and structure. Loose and full bodied but a little shapeless. A bit brutal and formless really.

Dom Coche-Dury 1997 Corton-Charlemagne 17 Drink 2002-08
Ripe, very ripe, as one can see by how ripe gold it is. A bit too ripe, admits Jean-François. Muscular, says Pierre Troisgros. Quite a wet summer. Much older than any other wine, without the structure of some younger vintages. Very soft and ripe. Definitely needs drinking now, A little hot and brutal. I wonder whether it would have tasted better a few years ago when the acidity was more obvious? Big in terms of alcohol and a bit loose. Even a little hint of decay. Rich and if one had the bottle in isolation, I suspect one would respect it, but in this company it is definitely the laggard. More alcohol than real concentration. Slightly hot finish. This was the last year they used a gold label - changed to a white one that reflects Jean-François' father's.

Une grande dégustation! Et un compte-rendu qui fait rêver.