Ben Leroux Cellar Offer 2026

The 2020 Volnay Village comes from two climats. This nose feels quite backward at the moment, later offers black plum, mint and undergrowth aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe tannins, fleshy, good backbone with a finely proportioned finish. Very fine. NEAL MARTIN

The 2020 Volnay Les Mitans 1er Cru has a generous bouquet with red cherries, blackcurrant and violet aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit, quite spicy with white pepper and clove notes towards the finish. Very fine, but it needs time. NEAL MARTIN

OUTSTANDING - A much spicier blend of red and dark raspberry, violet and Asian-style tea introduces round, richer and more generously proportioned medium-bodied flavors that possess a seductive mouthfeel while displaying even better depth and persistence on the balanced finale. This is also a really good villages and worth your interest. BURGHOUND

FIVE STARS - This cuvee is usually built around Les Seuvrées and La Justice, boosted from 2020 by the addition of Champerrier, Jeunes Rois and En Champs. Dark but fresh purple, lively fruit and roses, this wine is lovely with more of a heart than usual, more floral, in fact it dances through to the back. The addition of the Brochon end vineyards make this more floral, more juicy, less savoury JASPER MORRIS MW

The 2020 Gevrey-Chambertin Village has a slightly stemmy bouquet (around 20% whoe bunch), dark berry fruit laced with cold tea, just a slight beetroot note emerging with time. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit, firm grip, fine depth with a crisp finish. Very fine. NEAL MARTIN

A cool, airy and exceptionally pretty nose reflects notes of the essence of various red berries, especially raspberry, along with lilac and rose petal hints. There is outstanding delineation to superbly intense flavors that are akin to rolling tiny pebbles around in the mouth before terminating a moderately austere, focused and chiseled finish. At least some patience will be required as this is very tightly wound at present. BURGHOUND

SWEET SPOT, OUTSTANDING - A much more sauvage-inflected nose speaks of more deeply pitched darker berry fruit and humus-suffused earth. There is more volume and power to the nicely rich but intense broad-shouldered flavors that exude a more subtle minerality on the youthfully austere, tightly wound and built-to-age finale. This is also very good and worth your interest. BURGHOUND

OUTSTANDING - Here there is just enough reduction to push the underlying fruit to the background so be sure to give this some air if you're tempted to try a bottle young. The lilting and beautifully textured middleweight flavors flash excellent punch on the caressing, nicely dry, stony and bitter lemon zest-suffused finish. This could use a bit better depth but the aging curve is such that more should reasonably develop in time. BURGHOUND

The 2021 Meursault-Blagny La Pièce Sous Le Bois 1er Cru has a cool, reserved nose at first that is quite Puligny-like, with fine mineralité and definition. Scents of grapefruit and pear emerge with time. The palate is well-balanced with a silver thread of acidity. It's more linear and edgy than the Vireuils, with a little more persistence on the finish. Delicious. BILL NANSON, The Burgundy Report

Crisp, lively, and refreshing, this wine opens with bright citrus and flinty notes and opens a bit with green apple and hints of cream. The texture is lively but there is enough substance to ensure that it doesn't feel sharp. Leroux farms 2.85 hectares here, and luckily it gave two-thirds of a normal crop this year, twenty barrels in total. An admirable effort from someone who is a bit of a Blagny specialist. DECANTER

OUTSTANDING - A pure, elegant and expressive nose offers up essence of red and dark pinot fruit, spice and once again, plenty of floral nuances. The middle weight flavors are not especially dense but I very much like the texture as well as the more complex and lingering finale. This is really very pretty, and the supporting tannins are sufficient dense to see this through at least a decade of cellaring. BURGHOUND

FIVE STARS - From Les Plures with one third whole bunches. Rich deep purple, great pinot plants, which showed last year and really does again this time. A magical fresh red deep cherry fruit, really gorgeous fruit here dancing across the palate, super fine tannins and impressive length. Bravo. Very long JASPER MORRIS MW.

There are five barrels of the 2019 Volnay Santenots 1er Cru, one new, that were racked in the summer. It has a generous and typically quite opulent bouquet, the one-third whole bunch nicely integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-boned tannins, good backbone and a grippy, very nicely focused finish. Bags of freshness locked up in this Santenots. Excellent. NEAL MARTIN

From Cras and Vaumuriens, so a mix of the flat land and the hillside. Deep concentrated red with a most delicious bouquet, heady but balanced with floral notes too. Succulent red fruit, really stylish for Pommard, backed by some habitual tannins. JASPER MORRIS MW

Plenty of colour. Less dark fruit, complex - super fresh, a little barrel as part of a general width of complexity. The structure suggests patience, the flavours less so - excellent wine! BILL NANSON, The Burgundy Report

A markedly earthy nose exhibits aromas of both red and black wild berries along with a whiff of underbrush. The supple, round and relatively easy-going middle weight flavors terminate in a grippy finish BURGHOUND

FIVE STARS - What he has made is excellent. Mid purple colour, with a very elegant attractively ripe deep red fruit nose. Excellent fresh mineral touch at the back, the savoury detail for which Gevrey is noted, fine boned and very persistent. JASPER MORRIS MW

WORTH A SPECIAL SEARCH - This has a wonderful nose - open, fine fruit and at the same time perfumed - bravo. In the mouth a little less fine focus, generous yet still fresh over the palate. It's delicious and smells gorgeous - the finish reflecting the nose. If the first palate tightens up then grand, grand villages. BILL NANSON, The Burgundy Report

The 2018 Gevrey-Chambertin Village is mostly from Les Seuvrées, aged half in 600-liter and half in 225-liter barrels, and has a fragrant bouquet of blackberry, briar and light chalky aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit and quite saline in the mouth, with plenty of energy on the refined finish, which really benefits from the stem addition. This comes highly recommended given its prospective price tag. NEAL MARTIN

The lieux-dits Les Seuvrées, La Justice, Billard, and Le Fourneau all contribute grapes for this cuvée. 10% fermented as whole clusters give just a touch of well-integrated menthol character, but there is a perfect purity of rose-scented cherry fruit here and a texture that balances elegance and traditional Gevrey backbone. The tannins are firm, and the wine retains admirable freshness for the vintage. This is a marvelous village-level Gevrey. DECANTER