BENJAMIN LEROUX

Ben was born in 1975 in Beaune, not to a vigneron family, yet decided in his teens that wine was what he wanted to do. After his enology studies, he worked at Cos d'Estournel in Bordeaux, Domaine Drouhin in Oregon, Louis Jadot in Beaune, and Comte Armand in Pommard, where he was named technical director and manager at the age of 24. In 2007, he founded his own domaine and négoce.

Size: Domaine: 8 ha (19.77 ac); Grape purchases: 20 ha (49.42 ac)

Varieties: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Aligoté

Farming: Domaine: certified organic, practicing biodynamic; Grape Purchases: Lutte raisonnée, organic, and biodynamic

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631-536-2800

Size: 0.45 ha (1.11 ac)

Variety: Chardonnay

Vine Age: Planted in the mid-1970s

Terroir: High altitude, just below the forest at top of hill, facing east/southeast, terres blanches, meaning "white soils" abundant limestone

Viticulture: Lutte raisonnée

Vinification: Whole-cluster pressing, light settling before transfer to 300L barrels (15% new oak), indigenous yeast fermentation. Aged for 18 months, fined and/or filtered only if necessary.

Meursault Les Vireuils offers more complexity on the nose compared to the Village Cru, offering pressed yellow flowers intermixed with beeswax and honeysuckle aromas. The palate is well balanced with better acidity than the Meursault Village and offers a welcome touch of salinity on the tensile finish. This comes recommended and should age well for a decade.

The highest 1er Cru in Meursault, this could also be labelled "Meursault 1er Cru Blagny" as it is in the hamlet located between Meursault and Puligny. These Chardonnay vines planted in Ben's parcel are on the uppermost part of the hill, while the part below is planted to Pinot Noir (and bottled as Blagny 1er Cru La Pièce Sous le Bois).

Vinification: Whole-cluster pressing, light settling, transfer to barrels (older oak) for indigenous yeast fermentation and aging. Fined and/or filtered only if necessary.

Known to offer a magical balance of smoothness and freshness, Meursault's quality is hard to rival. The village lies in the middle of Côte de Beaune, just south of Volnay. Meursault is said to mean “mouse’s jump” because in the past the plots producing Pinot Noir and those producing Chardonnay were no more than a mouse’s jump from one another. Vinification: Directly pressed, light settling, transfer to barrels (15-20% new oak), indigenous yeast fermentation. Aged for 16 months, fined and/or filtered if necessary.