Serious Burgundy lovers likely saw the name “Coche” attached to today’s offer and were instantly intrigued. In Meursault these days, the two most-hyped domaines are Coche-Dury and Roulot, whose undeniably elite wines cost more in both effort and dollars than most people have. Domaine Fabien Coche, which has familial ties to both those big guns, has become a favored child over here at SommSelect, given how much opulence, structure, and sheer class they pack into wines that cost a fraction of their big-name cousins.
As in, a tiny fraction: Whereas Coche-Dury’s Meursault “Les Chevalières” easily climbs north of $1,000 a bottle (if you can find one), Fabien Coche’s superb take on this same vineyard comes in today at $75. It’s one of those wines that compels me to redefine what I think “value” means—in a nutshell, let’s just say it’s not the same thing as “cheap.” This 2016 delivers the kind of swoon-worthy white Burgundy experience that (a) few white wines in the world can match and (b) I’d happily pay more for (and often do). The fact that I, and you, don’t have to pay more today is cause for celebration. We have enough of Coche’s 2016 “Les Chevalières” to offer six bottles per customer today—a great day to take your limit!
The Les Chevalières vineyard is one of many lieu-dits (named vineyards) in Meursault with the kind of proven excellence and “who’s-who” ownership that causes one to wonder why it isn’t classified Premier Cru at least. It is positioned at the northern end of Meursault near the village border with Auxey-Duresses and Monthélie, surrounded by several similarly esteemed lieu-dits such as “Les Luchets” (Roulot makes a noteworthy version) and “Les Meix Chavaux.” These sites sit at around the same position on the slope as the assorted Meursault Premier Crus further south, but the aspects are marginally different: “Les Chevalières” faces more directly east, and curls a little to the northeast, while the Premier Crus skew east/southeast. It is a subtle difference to be sure, and there’s no shortage of love for Les Chevalières as site known for structured, tensile wines, with luminaries such as Fichet, Xavier Monnot, and Matrot making wines with the designation.
As we’ve noted in previous Fabien Coche offers, the “Coche” name goes back a ways in Meursault and the family tree is an august one, to say the least. In 1940, Julien Coche started with one humble hectare (under the name Domaine Julien Coche-Debord) and when his son, Alain—a first cousin of Jean-François of Domaine Coche-Dury—came aboard, land ownership grew to a dozen hectares through decades of manual work and determined growth. At this point, the estate was renamed Domaine Coche-Bizouard. Finally, Alain’s son, Fabien, took the reins in 1998, and for the last two decades, he has impressively managed their 40 parcels of vines—split between Chardonnay and Pinot Noir—in and around the village of Meursault. Equally impressive are their old vines: over 60% of them are pushing past 60 years old! It’s also important to note this family estate has farmed traditionally from the start and Fabien hasn’t missed a beat in that regard.
With the 2016 vintage in the Côte de Beaune, as we’ve noted before, there’s no shortage of ripe, concentrated flavor—there’s just a shortage of wine, as difficult spring weather reduced the eventual crop size. Coche’s ’16 is absolutely pristine, powerful, and dancing-on-the-head-of-a-pin balanced, with a well-integrated oak imprint: It aged 12 months in 10% new barrels, then was racked into neutral oak barrels and aged for an additional eight months. In the glass, it displays a reflective yellow-gold hue moving to green and silver at the rim. The aromas are explosive and immediate, requiring just a few swirls of the glass to fill the immediate area with scents of yellow apple, assorted citrus, lemon curd, baking spices, brioche dough, crushed oyster shells, and wet stones. Medium-plus to full in body, it has a characteristically voluptuous Meursault texture check by laser-beam acidity. Even at this young stage, it’s got everything in the right place, and many more years of graceful evolution ahead of it. Crack at least one of your bottles soon, decant it for about 30 minutes, and serve it at 50-55 degrees in Burgundy stems next to your roast chicken recipe of choice. We’re talking absolute wine/food perfection here. Don’t miss a chance to experience it!
