1995 Coche-Dury Meursault-Perrières 1er, 2014 Joseph Drouhin Montrachet

Dr Wang, without any reason, offered a Coche-Dury that we could not refuse. With Angie whipping up some truffled capellini topped with generous dollops of caviar plus chunky pieces of aged USDA wagyu, Meng and myself had to measure up with some matching wines as we gathered at the Wang residence on 23 November 2019.

2000 Champagne Krug Brut, courtesy of Dr WKW. Nutty deep toasty notes amid lovely oxidative tones with a full palate of intense clear citrus, displaying excellent concentration, fullness and acidity with a dry minerally depth though not quite possessing the complexity of the best vintages. At its drinking best.

2014 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges La Perrière 1er. Very pale. Shut initially with a light acidity, revealing glimpses of cool white fruits with traces of sweet, slightly tropical in quality. Very good in concentration with quite a refined presence and elegance, layered with a very fine crystalline quality, finishing in an expanse of white pepper. Quite excellent, though I must say the unique pinot blanc tends to elude description.

1992 Denis Mugneret Richebourg Grand Cru, courtesy of Meng. Mature but still darkly coloured, exuding a delicious gentle fragrance of ripe raspberries and dark currants. Still showing good concentration of dark plummy characters with briar and wild berries on a bed of soft tannins, laced with dense ferrous minerals amid some earthiness, still fairly intense, finishing with gentle complexity.

2006 Nicolas Potel Échezeaux Grand Cru, courtesy of Meng. Good colour, exuding soft aromas of red cherries and rose petals, showing good concentration and purity on the palate, very well-balanced and integrated.

1995 Domaine Coche-Dury Meursault-Perrières 1er, courtesy of Dr WKW. Displaying an aged golden lustre, this wine exudes perfumed aromas of honeysuckle and fig on the nose along with elements of hazelnuts, almonds and caramel, rather elusive on the whole. Unlike younger vintages of Coche-Dury that explode with a wealth of inner detail, the palate here is gently rounded with relaxed mature charm, well balanced with fine linearity as it fans out with a mild gentle floral warmth, finishing with a gentle peppery glow. At its best and unlikely to improve further.

2014 Joseph Drouhin Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche Grand Cru. Aired for five hours in bottle, this wine is still relatively shy, showing only a delicate floral bouquet with quite an ethereal charm though it has greater impact on the palate, producing a sensual mouthfeel that yielded very fine detail, appropriately full, superbly balanced with a highly refined elegance that merged seamlessly with a quiet glowing minerally finish. Doesn’t call attention to itself. Far from ready but it holds tremendous promise.