2017 Benjamin Leroux Meursault Les Vireuils, Cote de Beaune

Screwcap. Leroux has been making this wine from the same 0.35 hectares of vines since 2002 (pre-2007 at Comte Armand). The vines are in Vireuils Dessus, one of the Meursault’s highest sites, sitting above the renowned Les Chevalières and Rougeots lieux-dits in one of the best parts of Meursault for village level. This is an east-facing, late-ripening site, with pure, rocky, limestone and flint soils. The vines are now around 45 years of age and, as always, have gifted a wine of intense minerality. It’s a vineyard that performs exceptionally well in generous years like 2017, with the wine’s sappy, high-grown freshness providing mouthwatering tension. And that is precisely what we get here!

Expect punchy lime zest, white floral notes to the fruit, a rocky, chalky edge to the structure and a deliciously sappy, piney close. “Outstanding. A deft application of wood sets off aromas that are compositionally similar to the straight Meursault but with the addition of background petrol nuances. The slightly finer middle weight flavors exude evident minerality on the citrusy and bone dry finish where the wood telegraphed by the nose reemerges. At least some patience is recommended.”

89 points, Allen Meadows, Burghound issue 75