2015 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru

The dynamic Benjamin Leroux, who routinely excels with both his red and white Burgundies, harvested from September 2 through 12. He noted that he wouldn’t have minded picking a little bit later but that “the vegetative cycle was over.” He explained: “We all wanted to avoid the problem of 2005, when some wines made from well-drained soils have dry tannins and are not aging well.” I had few such issues with Leroux’s 2015s, which combine silkiness and power and avoid edgy tannins. Leroux describes his 2015s as “a mix of 2009 and 2010, but not as elegant as the 2010s. Some '15s will close up in bottle owing to their power, density and structure.”

Average potential alcohol levels were “very even” in 2015, typically around 13.2%, and Leroux did a bit more whole-cluster fermentation than usual (a maximum of 50% for a couple grand crus, but normally no more than 25%) because the stems were ripe. “Also, vinifying with whole clusters allows you to extract a little less and the stems suck up a bit of sugar and alcohol, and the tannins are smoother,” he added. He then did fewer pigeages than normally, explaining: “Why break the berries if you’re trying to do some inner-berry fermentation?”

Leroux told me that although he eliminated grapes that were red but not black in 2015, there was very little underripe fruit and no botrytis. He decided not to purchase grapes from a few of his past vineyard sources where the growers “refused to drop crop and couldn't get the fruit ripe.” Nearly all of the malolactic fermentations finished by Christmas but the wines remained on their lees for several months; while most of the 2015s were racked in August, the grand crus were still in their original barrels on their lees when I tasted them in November.

Incidentally, Leroux was one of several producers who told me that his 2015 whites were showing increasing focus and tension with élevage, suggesting that some of these very rich wines are going to be mighty impressive. And he expressed the opinion that the vintage’s better white wines should resist oxidation for many years.