Less open and more powerful than the approachable 2014, the 2016 Coche Meursault may be the longer-lived wine. Here there is a less overt fruit aroma, but with time notes of nectarines, apricots, and ripe pear emerge from the cloud of mineral and smoky reductive scents. The wine is substantial and dense but not heavy – the extract is perfectly balanced by fresh acidity, and the concentration of both is exceptional. Coche farms several parcels of Meursault, including in the lieux-dits Vireuils, Narvaux, Luchets, and several others. Although the exact blends differ for each importer, one is assured of a thrilling experience with this wine.

The 2016 Meursault Village wafts from the glass with notes of crisp apple, pear, almond paste and lemon oil, displaying a pure bouquet that isn't marked by the reductive signatures of yesteryear. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, intense and incisive, with excellent concentration and a tangy line of acidity that lends the wine enormous length. Right now, it's youthfully tight-knit, but there's immense promise here. This note applies to a bottle from a cuvée produced from the lieu-dit Les Chaumes that also contains some juice from La Barre. Raphaël Coche told me that he produced three other cuvées, one from Vireuils, another from Narvaux and a third assembling multiple parcels that together filled a press. As usual, the only way to know which bottling you possess is to ask the importer.- WK