Raphaël Coche

The Route

Full-time work inside a family estate is a craft education in sequence: vineyard pressure, cellar timing, inherited methods, and the discipline of repetition. From 1999 to 2010, Raphaël Coche worked as a full-time member of the family estate at Domaine Coche-Dury in Meursault, Côte de Beaune, Burgundy, France. In a closely watched Burgundy cellar, the work remained practical by nature: observe, repeat, adjust, and understand when intervention would reduce rather than clarify the material. Estate leadership in Burgundy is still measured through parcels and cellar decisions, not title alone. Since 2010, Raphaël Coche has been winemaker; estate lead with Charline Coche of Domaine Coche-Dury, carrying forward a lineage centered on reading fruit, preserving energy, and keeping the identity of each parcel visible without forcing it into a fixed style.

The Work Today

Viticulture and oenology at Domaine Coche-Dury are organized around Chardonnay from Meursault and other Burgundy parcels, with Raphaël Coche working as winemaker and estate lead with Charline Coche since 2010. The defining task is not general white-wine polish, but the handling of Burgundy fruit so that site remains legible. Long, traditional vinifications with extended lees contact form a central part of the cellar work. Lees time is used functionally: to prevent oxidation while working with the freshness of the grapes. The method keeps technique accountable to fruit condition rather than using cellar practice to cover it. New wood has a specific role rather than a decorative one. A good proportion is used to extend cellar-aging potential and to provide a clean slate for fruit, not to push wood flavor forward. The target is structure and clarity, not overt seasoning. The white Burgundies associated with the domaine are marked by nerve and vibrant acidity, and they are not among the ripest or highest in alcohol among colleagues. In Raphaël Coche’s work, Chardonnay is shaped through disciplined cellar practice and restrained intervention, with each parcel treated as an individual expression of place. The operating principle is direct: each wine should be a unique reflection of its terroir. The parcel, in that sense, is the unit of meaning.

Career - Winemaker; estate lead with Charline Coche, Domaine Coche-Dury, Meursault, Côte de Beaune, Burgundy, France (2010–present) - Full-time member of the family estate, Domaine Coche-Dury, Meursault, Côte de Beaune, Burgundy, France (1999–2010)

Signature

Signature bottlings include Corton-Charlemagne.

Credentials

Parcel distinction is clearest when neighboring sites refuse to behave alike. Domaine Coche-Dury Meursault Les Rougeots and Meursault Les Chevalières are adjacent village Meursault lieux-dits, yet Rougeots is richer and rounder, while Chevalières is leaner and more citrus. Grand Cru context enters the range through Corton-Charlemagne, the estate’s sole white Grand Cru. Alongside the Meursault lieux-dits, it shows the work Raphaël Coche is known for: Burgundy Chardonnay handled for origin, freshness, cellar discipline, and restraint.

FAQ What does Raphaël Coche do now? Raphaël Coche is co-leader of the estate with Charline Coche. Where did Raphaël Coche work before? Earlier in their career, Raphaël Coche worked at Domaine Coche-Dury. What is Raphaël Coche known for? Chardonnay from Meursault and other Burgundy parcels.