If you’re not familiar with Leroux, he became the technical director of Comte Armand at 24, before which he enrolled in viticultural school at 15. In other words, the writing was on the wall. His style is polished, elegant, and vibrant. Despite rapidly trending toward ‘benchmark’ status amongst people who know what’s up, his wines still offer phenomenal value for the price.
The 2022 Benjamin Leroux Bourgogne Aligoté may well set a new benchmark for this bottling, its texture, poise and balance are first class. Back in his Domaine Comte Armand days, Ben was one of the first to give old-vine Aligoté a serious go. Years later, he's still working with great, old-vine material, with more refined winemaking, this wine is in a class of its own. This is super: Fresh pears, green plums, a bevy of different fruits. Mesmerisingly nuanced, at once creamy yet vibrantly fresh.
The key components are a parcel of 50-year-old vines in Meursault’s Les Belles Roses climat and a precious parcel of 85–105-year-old vines in Bouzeron. The vine material in both vineyards is of the high-quality, low-yielding Aligoté Doré cultivar. The 2022 fermented and matured in seasoned 12-hectolitre ovals and glass Wine Globes. Fans of this wine will be pleased to hear there’s a new Aligoté cuvée on the way from old vines in Chassagne.
