2023 Benjamin Leroux Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Tete du Clos Blanc
2023 Benjamin Leroux Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Tete du Clos Blanc

2023 Benjamin Leroux Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Tete du Clos Blanc

95 pts
Benjamin Leroux |Burgundy |Chardonnay
From a rocky, high-slope parcel of 1955 vines, this is a concentrated yet mineral Chassagne that easily justifies its “baby Chevalier” reputation.
Price:
$649.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship, only 3 units left
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Description

Perched right at the top of Morgeot, Tête du Clos is one of those sites that always feels a bit overlooked, yet insiders know it’s special. Leroux himself has described it as the “Chevalier-Montrachet of the south,” and standing in the vineyard you can see why – there’s almost no topsoil, just 20cm of thin earth over glaring white limestone. It’s an exposed, rocky terroir, producing tiny, concentrated bunches from Leroux’s old vines planted back in 1955.

The 2023 shows why this site is so highly regarded. Picked just before the September heatwave, it’s got both richness and snap, with layered fruit balanced by a piercing mineral line that runs right through the wine. Leroux raised it in two seasoned barrels, keeping the texture broad yet avoiding any heavy oak footprint.

This is one of those premiers crus that behaves like a baby grand cru – deep, complex and ageworthy, but also shaped by the raw mineral force of the vineyard. Tiny quantities, and one of the absolute standouts in the Leroux range this year.

Christy Canterbury MW

Tim Atkin Burgundy Report 95 Points

Exotic and decadent in its swarm of aromas, the tangy intensity smartly counters the gutsy fruit impact. Tree blooms, sweet peach fuzz, spice and even a hint of new leather create a heady whirlwind. Bewitching, age-worthy and classy, this is Grand Cru level—yet again. These vines are owned by Ben, towards the heights of Morgeot.

Neal Martin

Neal Martin

Vinous 94 Points

The 2023 Chassagne-Montrachet Tête du Clos 1er Cru has a very different bouquet than the Les Baudines, less flattering but perhaps better defined with crushed stone, peach skin and light chamomile scents. Understated and elegant in style, the palate is very well balanced with a fine bead of acidity. It builds up a bit of steam toward the finish. Delicious. 92-94 points

Importer's Notes:

Leroux calls Tête du Clos the “Chevalier-Montrachet of the south.” It’s one of the many sub-climats of Morgeot and lies at the vineyard’s apex, where the soil is very rocky. There is barely 20 centimetres of topsoil, with white clay and plenty of limestone on the surface. It’s about the same altitude as Les Embazées, but showcases an entirely different expression of Chassagne—both richer and more mineral (hence the Chevalier reference). Leroux’s 0.4-hectare, old-vine parcel (planted in 1955) produces small, concentrated clusters. This brings genuine depth of fruit to go with the intense, earthy minerality. It’s a wine that lives up to its baby-Grand-Cru reputation—deep and rich yet with an intense mineral backbone. This magnificent wine aged in two second-use barrels.

The Vintage:

As far as Benjamin Leroux is concerned, 2023 is better than a good year. “It’s a great vintage,” he told us in Beaune earlier this year, “the red and white wines have always tasted well, and I’m sure they will always taste well.” As the great growers tend to do, Leroux made some crucial decisions this year. First of all, he started picking the Côte de Beaune whites on the August 29th, avoiding the unexpected heatwave that arrived on September 4th (the very day most growers had pencilled in to start picking).

Then, he picked the reds in the cool mornings after the canicule had passed, and the grapes immediately went into two large cool rooms installed outside the winery. He was over the moon with the quality, even if it had taken a significant effort to control the yields through de-budding, two green harvests and painstaking sorting. Ultimately, he achieved good yields with impeccable ripeness—most of the wines are below 13.5%.

With his desire to preserve freshness and purity, Leroux now ferments and ages 50% of his white wine in large casks and 50% of his reds (we have included 500 and 600-litre casks in that calculation). He also has an ever-growing stash of WineGlobes—often used in the second year to instil more purity—and stoneware amphora. Leroux is using more and more 456-litre barrels for the top wines, and any new 228-litre pièces used for Pinot are tempered with a white fermentation first. He also uses minimal added sulphur, with meticulous on-site testing as the wine ages.

Extraction for the reds is on the light side—“We can’t plunge three times a day anymore,” he says. The use of bunches is also adapted to each terroir: what works for Les Rugiens doesn’t necessarily work for Les Santenots. As for the quality, the overall standard is exceptionally high, and there are more than a few superstars from this year. The whites, in general, are supple, fleshy and bright, growing in minerality and tension as the wines tighten up in the bottle. Leroux likens them to a slightly more refined and less concentrated version of 2022—he sees impressive length and depth rather than scale and breadth.

If anything, Ben’s reds are even more impressive. Those who know the producer well will already know Leroux’s talent for producing age-worthy wines from a range of terroirs, even in tricky vintages. Twenty-twenty-three wasn’t an easy vintage to ace, and yet Leroux has consistently done so, in every appellation. Despite visiting and working with Leroux for over 15 years, we still don’t know how he does it! For the style of the reds, Leroux sees some similarities with 1999 (not a bad vintages to be compared with!) in that ripening came easily despite the larger crop, and there is no sign of dilution. In a simple generalisation we could say that the reds are loaded with charming fruit and silky structures. It’s a shining year for a grower-producer who does not know how to put a foot wrong.

Price Bracket $101 and Above
Type White
Body Full Bodied
Variety Chardonnay
Country France
Region Burgundy
Size 750ml
Vintage 2023
Closure DIAM Cork

Benjamin Leroux

Burgundian native Benjamin Leroux is one of the brightest minds and winemaking talents of his generation.

Considered a winemaking prodigy from an early age, Leroux attended the Lycée Viticole in Baune at the tender age of 13. Then, at the age of just 26, he ascended to the roles of manager and winemaker in the famed cellars of Domaine Comte Armand - a remarkable vote of confidence in one so young.

In 2007 he launched his eponymous label to wide critical acclaim. His has been a meteoric rise through the ranks of Burgundy's producers. His incisive modern approach to winemaking combined with his deep knowledge and respect for tradition has seen his small, hand-crafted cuveés coveted by collectors across the world.

These wines speak eloquently of where they come from. A legend in the making, Leroux's wines are some of the most exciting in modern-day Burgundy.

Ben Leroux in his cellar Discover Benjamin Leroux

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