2012 Gevrey-Chambertin, Les Champeaux, 1er Cru, Benjamin Leroux, Burgundy

  • Red
  • Dry
  • Medium Bodied
  • Pinot Noir
Ready - at best (Drink 2017 - 2035)
Richard Hemming MW
17.5/20
Neal Martin
89-91/100
Allen Meadows
90-92/100
Antonio Galloni
90-92/100
Product: 20121152465

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2012 Gevrey-Chambertin, Les Champeaux, 1er Cru, Benjamin Leroux, Burgundy

Description

A brilliant, deep, dark purple with layered chocolate characters. It’s difficult to pin down at the moment, but the wine is quite weighty with a touch of smoky notes.

As far as supply is concerned, 2012 has been topsy-turvy. Ben has made plenty of wine, but some cuvées are missing this year. The best volumes are with the Chassagne-Montrachet Premiers Crus, which are always a strong point chez Benjamin. From a standing start in 2007, Benjamin has made fascinating progress and has grown his business a little more quickly than expected as great opportunities have come his way. Yet he still doesn’t seem to have enough wine yearly to satisfy demand.

Berry Bros. & Rudd

Colour Red
Sweetness Dry
Vintage 2012
Maturity Ready - at best (2017 - 2035)
Grape List Pinot Noir
Body Medium Bodied
Producer Benjamin Leroux

Critics reviews

Richard Hemming MW 17.5/20

Very ripe, modern fruit – perhaps with a slight bit of volatile acidity, but not in a detracting way. In fact, this is really charming with a blueberry and redcurrant finish. Long, expressive, ripe, powerful and with a charming complexity on the length.

Drink 2016 - 2030

Richard Hemming MW, JancisRobinson.com (Jan 2014)
Neal Martin 89-91/100

The 2012 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Champeaux was more taciturn when tasted out of barrel compared to the expressive Village Cru. It has a lively cohesive opening with a firm grip at the front of the mouth. This is another relatively masculine Gevrey from Leroux, but very well-balanced with attractive stony notes bolstering the finish. This is broody but absorbing.

Neal Martin, Vinous.com (Dec 2013)
Allen Meadows 90-92/100

Reduction renders the nose difficult to assess, but there is good intensity and freshness to the refined, pure, and mineral-inflected medium-bodied flavours that possess just a touch of Gevrey's natural sauvage character before culminating in a delicious, balanced, and impressively complex finale. Good stuff.

Drink from 2020 onward

Allen Meadows, Burghound.com (Apr 2014)
Antonio Galloni 90-92/100

A much darker, more explosive style of Gevrey emerges from the 2012 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Champeaux. A huge, brooding wine, the Champeaux hits the palate with plums, cassis, smoke, grilled herbs and menthol. Firm tannins frame the exuberant fruit nicely, but readers need to be patient. There isn't a whole lot of near-term appeal here, that much is sure.

Drink 2022 - 2034

Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (Jan 2014)

About this wine

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or. Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.
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Benjamin Leroux

Having created a name for himself as régisseur (general manager) of Domaine du Comte Armand in Pommard, Benjamin Leroux established, with English backing, a small négociant business based in Beaune since 2007. The range is confined to the Côte d’Or, from Chassagne-Montrachet to Gevrey-Chambertin, with the intention of developing farming contracts or indeed purchasing vineyards in the future. The possibilities are very exciting for this exceptionally talented vigneron. Benjamin is a master at delivering purity of fruit alongside a seamless texture in his wines which have only the subtlest influence of oak. One of Benjamin’s favourite locations for white wine vineyards is the border between Auxey-Duresses and Meursault, which is where Les Vireuils can be found. Here the natural weight of Meursault is enhanced by the fresher minerality typical of the side valley of Auxey-Duresses. Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director and author of the award-winning Inside Burgundy comprehensive handbook.Discover the story behind our Own Selection Bourgogne Côte d’Or Pinot Noir, made for us by Benjamin. Read more
Find out more

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