2013 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru

Now that Benjamin Leroux, who will turn 40 next month, has left Domaine des Epéneaux, he can devote full time to his growing négociant business (he also owns some Meursault and Batard-Montrachet vineyards with his partners). In a crowded cellar in Beaune, he makes about 8,000 cases per year, half red and half white. Leroux told me that his team and his growers picked in 2013 with potential alcohol averaging 12.3% and he chaptalized to no more than 13% "just to draw out the fermentations and get a more glyceral quality to the wines." He typically vinifies by creating layers of whole clusters and juice in his tanks, and uses no more than 10% new oak to age his wines. I tasted some stunning wines here in November.