2014 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru

The talented Benjamin Leroux, who now makes roughly 60,000 bottles each of red and white wine annually, described the 2014 reds as "sweet and appealing wines that can be enjoyed young, before the 2013s. But they're well-balanced and they should age well," he added."They are not light wines." It's also a classic vintage, he told me, especially compared to 2015, which featured some of the lowest levels of malic acidity to date, and 2013, which began with the highest malic acidity in his winemaking career. Potential alcohol levels were in the very healthy 12. 5% to 13% range in 2014, and Leroux did almost no chaptalization.

Leroux vinifies with a significant percentage of whole clusters, particularly for his grand crus, but this decision is made for each wine on the sorting table; in 2014, for example, he entirely destemmed his Clos Saint-Denis and Mazoyères-Chambertin. The entry-level wines here get no more than 10% new oak, the premier crus about 20%. For the grand crus, the percentage of new oak depends on the volume of wine. A majority of the 2014s were racked and blended just before the 2015 harvest.