Tasted in Beaune with Benjamin Leroux, 03 December 2015.
Domaine Benjamin Leroux
5 Rue Colbert
21200 Beaune
Tel: +33 3 80 22 71 06
www.benjamin-leroux.com
Benjamin on 2015:
“Wait and see…”
Benjamin on 2014:
“2014 has delivered really open wines. I like them a lot; both reds and whites are pure with good definition, with very good whites. The reds also very good; not massive tannins but they are ripe. The hailed parts also taste really good – in some areas these are some of the best wines I ever made due to their concentration.”
The wines…
Far from simple, easy 2014s here chez Benjamin Leroux. Really a fine range of wines with both depth and amplitude.
2014 Bourgogne Rouge
There was very little Savigny villages in this vintage, so straight to a 1er Cru.
The only wine in bottle, coming from lots of parcels (18,000 bottles) including lots of Santenay, including Comme, but also Meursault, Volnay, Fixin et-cetera. Normally 15-20% from the Côte de Nuits, though it changes each year.
Bright, wide and prettily complex fruit. Round, modestly textured, more about forward fruit, yet there’s a nice line of structure. Very nicely finishing too. Tasty wine…
To be bottled Feb/March
Deep wide and dark. Round, beautifully textured. Weight of flavour with a fine intense fruit in the finish – a super Savigny villages!
A new wine, bought, and there are both colours here too.
Deep colour. Dark flavoured, lithe, with energy. Intense flavour, and good length. This is really excellent wine.
2014 Volnay 1er Clos de Cave des Ducs
Dark and wide yet with aromatic discretion. Big wine, in shape, intensity and concentration. The tannin is modest in comparison. Excellent finish – if a little tight overall.
2014 Volnay 1er Les Pitures
These vines are effectively an extension of the Clos des Ducs on a terres blanches soil.
Also deep colour. Compact but hinting at flowers. Bigger shape, more structure, mouth-watering flavours. More direct and with much more open finishing flavour. Quite a large-scaled wine this…
A mix of Charlemagne and Bressandes.
Tight, modest aromatic notes at the base. Wide, with a muscled intensity in the middle yet lithe and supple – no fat here, but a lot of growing flavour intensity…big finishing – pow! Extra long, bravo…!
2014 Gevrey-Chambertin
The most important villages cuvée here, up to 9k bottles, all assembled from older barrels waiting for bottling.
Wide, dark, floral fruit. Really excellent texture, the flavour leaching from your gums. Excellent final flavour too. This is really excellent.
Deep but not ultra dark flavours. A little reduced – the nose isn’t playing today. Large-scaled, high tones, excellent fruit – a little more tannic. This will be excellent but needs a bit more time. Extra finishing depth of flavour too.
Deeper nose, silky. Bigger, rounder, more comforting. Really super mid-palate flavour. Round and very lovely. This shows a Charmes-Chambertin type of character. Just great!
2014 Vosne-Romanée
A blend of Maizières and Violettes. The second most important villages cuvée – some whole-clusters here.
A more floral nose, still tight but very appealing. Very wide, starts cool and silky before the tannin grows a little. Gorgeous mid-palate and finishing flavour. Really yum!
2014 Chambolle-Musigny
Also some whole-clusters used here.
Modest yet wide and deep, a really lovely floral note escapes a faint reduction. Plenty of tannin here, but the note on the nose comes through the palate – really beautiful fruit flavour – but wait to avoid the tannin’s clutches!
2014 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Amoureuses
Whilst many have been aromatically tight, this is a super open and effusive nose, a faint reduction but otherwise gorgeous. In the mouth a large, plush wine with a little tannin and a lot of appealing flavour. Let’s see, but I think it will be very fine…
2014 Nuits St.Georges 1er Aux Thorey
Deep colour. Cool dark and fresh – dramatically different, a suggestion of flowers too. Big, intense and direct rather than round, but super texture with a little saltiness in the mid-palate. Chewy flavour in the finish, and really long too. Yum!
2014 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Les Goulots
Wide fresh top notes, tighter below. A dark cherry skin aroma. Structured but not grainy; airy fruit, a long line of direct, mouth-watering flavour. A mineral impression but with lots of delicate finishing flavour….
Now showing the vineyard location on the label. Plenty of whole clusters, lots of small grapes, vinified without sulfur, though elevage with.
Deep round and impressive, despite a little reduction – whole-cluster notes too. In the mouth round in shape with lots of tannic texture, not much grain though – the flavour of the clusters too. Waves of flavour. A baby but what a baby!
Vibrant, pretty deep red fruit – with the aid of reduction. Then adds a floral dimension – really perfect! Not the shape or weight of the Clos de Vougeot, but here is a much more open and generous flavour.
Wide and beautiful notes of mineral red fruit and flowers. Round, less mineral than I expect until the mid-palate, then broad and super complex… easy to drink but far from easy wine. Complex and rewarding…
2014 Griotte-Chambertin
A tighter nose, deeply red fruited at the core. Luxurious texture, a wide but a,so a deep core of fruit too. Today I don’t see the personality. This is really behind in elevage just at the moment.
Les Blancs…
With Benjamin’s acquisitions, he now has 3.3 hectares of whites, including Bâtard-Montrachet. A very solid set of wines here – all super, just a little tightness to some of the best…
2014 Bourgogne Chardonnay
Last vintage of melange, next year only domaine grapes.
Fresh but warm fruit. Well textured, nice shape and a slowly growing mid-palate intensity. Bright and tasty finishing too. Very good.
2014 St.Romain Sous le Château
The nose needs a bit more time. Gassy some nice direct mineral flavour and the mid-palate has a simply lovely, fresh flavour. Slowly mouth-watering from every possible place. I’m sure this will be excellent! Super finish, pineapple…
2014 St.Aubin 1er Dents du Chien
Lovely, fresh, complex notes of flowers and fainter citrus. Live, energetic and fresh without being over-bearing. Excellent flavour in the finish – super yum!
Own vines
A nice width of flavour, with a becoming Meursault spice. Lithe, mineral, clarity, and a beautiful line of flavour. Nothing excessive, everything gorgeous!
2014 Puligny-Montrachet
A deep nose, of ripe lemon and minerals. Fresh but with richness of flavour. Lots of mouth-watering flavour here. Today a little baked apple. Super long…
The following for bottling in 2-3 months…
2014 Meursault 1er La Piece Sous la Bois
Deep, wide, round and fresh – everything! A hint of fat to the texture, but definitely not in the flavour. A little Meursault ginger spice, but more Puligny in stance. Lovely wine that holds very long too…
2014 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Baudines
A little more aromatic impact. Big, round and silky in the mouth – clearly from somewhere different. The flavour slowly leaching and expanding. Fine long finish of rich flavour but fine acidity too.
Bright, effusive, open and inviting. In the mouth too this is a wine of energy and enthusiasm – like a puppy wanting to play.
Actually this is like a more subdued version of the Tête du Clos – a more composed citrus perhaps. But in the mouth this is fresh and lithe, with a fine and growing mid-palate flavour that brings great joy. I like it very much. Very fine, contemplative finish too.
2013 Meursault 1er Genevrières Dessus
A domaine wine near Perrières.
Wide and sweet nose. Round, rich but full of energy and flavour. Really lots of interest here and the plush texture is fun too as the wine is finely balanced.
2014 Corton-Charlemagne
From the Pernand side.
The nose is wide and slightly oxidative in style. Big, round, bundling with energy. Intense in te middle. Long and interesting.
2014 Bâtard-Montrachet
From Chassagne, the upper part of the vines, between Vougeraie and the Hospices, and below DRC’s Montrachet.
A deep and layered nose, less wide than the charlemagne. Big in the mouth yet not fat. A wine with layers, indeed waves of flavour. Yet vs many I’ve tasted a little tight today.