Wine of the Week: 2010 White Burgundy of Benjamin Leroux

Benjamin Leroux, the brilliant, young régisseur and winemaker at Comte Armand Domaine du Clos des Epeneaux in Pommard, is quietly making small batches of wines under his own name. The fruit is purchased from small parcels owned by growers whom he closely works with. He's converting their vineyards to organic viticulture, but meanwhile everything is farmed sustainably, or lutte raisonnée.

For someone who made his name making Pommard, I’m blown away by how brilliant Benjamin Leroux is in crafting white Burgundies. Since starting to make his own wines under his label with the 2007, his flagship wine has been the Auxey-Duresses Blanc!

Anyone who wants to check out how good Benjamin Leroux is should simply taste his Auxey-Duresses Blanc. This is a marvelous wine with a richness that hints of its Meursault proximity, but with a sharpness and finesse that recall more a Puligny, especially in the 2010 vintage. The wine comes from a vineyard that borders Meursault, lying on a slope at an elevation of 350 meters facing east/southeast. The sunny morning exposure and stony soils of white marl over a limestone base is an excellent terroir for the Chardonnay vines to produce wines with finesse. This expression is clear in the 2010 Auxey-Duresses, a wine with fragrance and depth and tingling tension on the fruit.

Leroux makes just a few barrels of this wine, yet it's very modestly priced for the quality. Always terrific buy, but particularly so in this great 2010 vintage!


Auxey-Duresses Blanc, Benjamin Leroux 2010 $39.00 (Click to buy!)
From a parcel consisting of three vineyard sites (lieux-dits) on the border with Meursault. Lying on a slope with a sunny exposure and stony soils of white marl over a limestone base, the terroir is excellent. This discernment is, of course, something to be expected from Benjamin Leroux, one of Burgundy's brilliant winemakers. Citrus, mineral notes with a hint of oak. Clean, precise flavors with a lovely tension and a piercing finish. Made by Benjamin Leroux, the brilliant winemaker at Domaine des Epeneaux in Pommard. This outstanding wine combines some of the richness of Meursault with the tension and raciness of Puligny. is terrific buy at such a modest price!

“An attractive baked apple opulence engulfs the nose of this wine, though this favourite cuvée of Benjamin’s is much tighter on the palate before a lovely finish.” Jasper Morris MW

Thomas Jefferson and Burgundy

Thomas Jefferson was principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States, and a Founding Father, but on the side, he was wine adviser to presidents George Washington, James Madison, and James Monroe. He famously declared that "good wine is a necessity of life for me.

Jefferson was definitely a drinker, not one who just sits on a bottle. His household in Monticello was said to consume 400 bottles of wine a year, and apparently exceeded that number on occasions--like the day when the Marquis de Lafayette dropped by to party in 1824, they exhausted every bottle of red wine in the cellar and Jefferson had to send someone to the city for backup.

Jefferson's cellar in Monticello must have been legendary during his time, as he filled it with all the great wines from France, Italy, and Portugal.  He had a keen palate, able to discern wines that he liked, without having to resort to Parker scores. His favorite wines are to this day regarded as some of the best wines in the world.

Jefferson clearly had a fondness for Burgundy, but even he realized back then that unlike Bordeaux, which was a cakewalk for him, Burgundy wasn't easy to navigate. He found help in the person of Etienne Parent, a cooper in Beaune, whom he met on a visit to Burgundy when he served as ambassador to France. It was said Jefferson and Parent talked shop on wine and viticulture, as well as philosophy and way of life over, we could only imagine, many bottles of great Burgundies.

After Jefferson became president and even later when he retired to Monticello, his communications with Etienne Parent continued. Apparently, Parent became Jefferson's negociant for importing Burgundies into the US. Papers, records, and correspondence exist that show proof of their purchases. Such was his friendship and respect for Etienne Parent that Jefferson signed some of their correspondence: "Thomas Jefferson, your humble and devoted servant." A bit over the top, perhaps? But, hey, Jefferson probably wanted to make sure he kept getting those allocations.

In late 2010, work on restoring Jefferson's Monticello cellar was completed and a formal celebration dinner was planned at the French Embassy in Washington DC. Among the folks invited were François Parent, direct descendant of Etienne Parent, and his wife, Anne-François Gros. François is proprietor of Domaine François Parent in Pommard. Unfortunately, François could not make it to the US but he sent a gift for the newly restored wine cellar, a bottle of 2005 Pommard Premier Cru Les Epenots and a bottle of 1789 Pommard Premier Cru Les Rugiens!

Ah, life, liberty, wine, and the pursuit of happiness.