Benjamin Leroux Meursault Les Vireuils 2020

Benjamin Leroux was born in Beaune, not to a vigneron family, but decided in his teens that he wanted to make wine and at the age of 13 attended the  Lycée Viticole in Baune. After his oenology studies, he worked at Cos d'Estournel in Bordeaux, Domaine Drouhin in Oregon, Louis Jadot in Beaune before making a name for himself as the régisseur (general manager) of Domaine du Comte Armand in Pommard. Benjamin Leroux established a small negociant business in 2007. For fifteen years, this has been one of the most dynamic cellars on the Côte in terms of winemaking. Leroux works with some 50 appellations and every wine has its own bespoke treatment according to the conditions of each vintage. 

This is a high-grown wine of wonderful purity and mineral drive. Leroux has been making this wine from the same 0.45 hectares of vines since 2002 (pre-2007, he made it at Comte Armand). This is from three parcels in Vireuils Dessus—one of the higher sites of Meursault—which sits above the renowned Les Chevalières and Rougeots lieux-dits in one of the best parts of Meursault for villages level. Vireuils is an east-facing, late-ripening site, with pure, rocky, limestone and flint soils and vines around 45 years of age. This cooler terroir is picked a good week after the village wine. Aging took place in older 300-litre barrels.

Pronounced aromas of green apple and lime peel. There is plenty of acidity, but more than that there is a lovely silky character as well. Leroux describes the parcel in Meursault Vireuils as 'limestone on limestone', noting that there are many limestone pebbles in the thin soils here. Even in 2020, the grapes were picked at a moderate 13% alcohol, and fermentation in used casks did nothing to hide the purity of the fruit. - Charles Curtis MW, Decanter, 93 Points

The Finer Details
Style - White Wine
Varietal - Chardonnay
Country - France
Region - Burgundy
Vintage - 2020
Bottle Size - 750ml
ABV - 13%