Raphaël Coche-Dury describes this as the most challenging vintage of his career to date, but the 2013 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru is showing very well, unfurling in the glass with notes of yellow orchard fruit, mandarin and lemon oil, almond paste and subtle top notes of petrol and white flowers. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, layered and intense, with an ample mid-palate, juicy acids, chewy extract and a long, saline finish. This isn't as structurally taut as the best vintages, so it will be a comparatively precocious rendition of this reliably long-lived cuvée, but it should deliver great pleasure over two decades or more.

The 2011 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru has an exquisite bouquet that truly deserves the phrase “liquid mineral.” Imagine a limestone quarry being melted down and then distilled multiple times until there is just enough to fill your wine glass. The palate has perfect acidity and subtle spicy notes on the entry: hints of lime flower, citrus lemon and a subtle note of mandarin coming through with aeration. Is exhibits balletic poise on the finish – a sensational Corton-Charlemagne that just may turn out to be just as good as the 2010. Drink 2018-2035. As I had anticipated, Raphael Coche requested that I visit after he had clocked off for the day. No problem – I’d rather he focuses on the vines than appease the demands of us “pesky” wine writers. This was actually my first visit to the domaine, which seems odd because it is many moons since I first fell in love with Jean-Francois Coche’s wines at a memorable tasting in London in the late 1990s. Since then, Raphael, still in his early thirties, has deftly slipped into his father’s shoes. Tall and the spitting image of papa, I had been forewarned that Raphael can be reticent at times. On the contrary, he was refreshingly garrulous, chatting not only about his own wines but enthusing about Pomerol after I espied a dusty bottle of 1987 Petrus incongruously perched on the shelf. In my opinion, and indeed others’, Raphael has subtly tweaked the style and perhaps even improved on what was already a winning formula. Recent vintages seem more consistent, perhaps even more aligned with their respective terroirs. On this visit, we tasted through most of the domaine’s 2011s that had been bottled the previous spring and are currently on the market. Raphael spoke enthusiastically about the 2011 vintage and rightly so. There is a natural sensibility to these wines, an approachability that is not always evident in their wines, proceeding to compare them to the 2001 vintage. My experience of this domaine’s wines means that I am happy to put long drinking windows for even the village crus, which I often reward a decade in bottle. Personally, I have found less premature oxidation at this address than others, in particular with respect to younger vintages, though nobody is totally immune.

The 2010 Corton-Charlemagne is every bit as remarkable from bottle as it was from barrel. In the glass it is vivid, multi-dimensional and wonderfully alive. At once powerfully vibrant yet also seamless, the 2010 has everything; expressive aromatics, nuanced fruit and taut, incisive minerality. I only hope to have a chance to taste it again in a few years’ time. Today, it looks like Coche’s 2010 Corton-Charlemagne is headed straight for icon status. It may very well be the wine of the vintage. If it isn’t, it is among the top 2-3.

The 2009 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru is fabulous, soaring from the glass with a youthful bouquet of preserved citrus, vanilla pod, pastry cream, subtle white truffle and toasted sesame. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, ample and layered, with a textural attack, deep core, excellent concentration and succulent acids. The length on the finish is extraordinary. While this is the highest in alcohol of the vintages in this tasting (2009-1999), it's better integrated than in the 2006 or 2003 vintages, both of which seem warmer—which Jean-François Coche suggests is because wine made from clean grapes hides its alcohol better than wine made from botrytized grapes. Raphaël Coche adds that 2009 was a year defined by "sun and juice," as vines set a large crop and ripened it in balmy conditions without suffering from any stress.