2019 Volnay 1er Cru

As is customary, Coche-Dury no longer shows their wines from barrel, so Raphael Coche took me through their complete set of the 2019 vintage in bottle. No complaints from me! Before tasting, we had a quick look at the vineyard, and Coche showed me how the inter-row crops are just starting to grow, emphasizing the need for biodiversity in the vineyard. Returning back to their new tasting room, and after a chat about music (it seems that the entire Coche family can play as many instruments as Prince), we set about the whites and reds. The harvest here began on September 7, and the aspect of this vintage that Coche appreciates is that it favored both colors, unlike the previous season (in fact, he was quite scathing about the 2018 reds, which he feels lack the typicity of Burgundy). He described 2020 as a “demonstrative” vintage. Coche-Dury's 2019s are superb, for sure: complex wines that are very terroir-driven, peaking with a brilliant Corton-Charlemagne (of course) and a wonderful Les Perrières. Among the reds, which use between 10% and 15% whole bunch, I adored the entry-level Bourgogne Rouge and Auxey-Duresses. I felt that these were toned down from some of the vintages I tasted several years ago that emphasized blacker fruit. These had more Pinoté. These wines are bottled under natural cork.