Les Champeaux

The most northerly Premier Cru of Gevrey, the vineyard is both high and east-facing. This lends the bouquet a mouth-watering note of crushed berry and the palate a certain severity, leading to pinpointed fruit and sculpted tannins. One to keep. Drink 2023-2029.

It is fair to say that Ben is very happy with 2017, describing it as the kind of vintage he would sign up for every year. The whites, he says, are beautiful, and not far from 2014 in style, with purity, finesse, great definition and balance. He describes the reds as pretty, appealing and with body to support ageing, while highlighting the importance of lower-yielding old vines for serious ageing. He eloquently explains that there is no “black sheep” in 2017, that no village has underperformed. For reason of space, the limited volumes of Grands Crus have not been included in this brochure. Since the 2014 vintage, all white wines are bottled under screwcap.

Les Champeaux offers a fine, bright purple colour with good depth. There is a wilder bouquet to this wine compared to the Chambolle-Musigny; it’s tightly knit and mineral-infused, while a lovely structural thread supports the vibrant red fruit. The impression is of smaller, more compact berry notes and fine quality oak provides depth and added dimension. The cool site of Les Champeaux always contributes to the marvellous texture of this wine.
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

From 80-year-old vines and with 50% new wood. This is magically vibrant with singing raspberries, intense and profound, with a caressing length of luxuriant fruit all the way to an exceptionally long finish.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director

Arnaud Mortet characterises 2012 as having a small yield, between 25 and 35 hl/ha, with good maturity and ripe tannins while retaining acidity: “A very Burgundy vintage”. Since his father’s time, Arnaud has reduced the amount of new oak, a program which he began in 2008 and has accelerated quite substantially for 2012 – and extracts more gently. Maybe some markets will prefer the previous style but we are convinced that Arnaud is making wines of absolute brilliance now as a result of his intelligent fine-tuning.

Still backward when tasted in October, this boasts a really dense purple-black colour, with solid and punchy fruit on the nose. The very rich fruit continues through the middle, backed by fresh acidity, with very good concentration and length. Excellent.
Jasper Morris MW - Wine Buyer

Glowing purple in colour, this is an exciting wine from very first sniff. The stems are working to good purpose with this fruit, allowing the wine to reach a fine fresh finish, with enough acidity to conserve the wine in future years.
Jasper Morris MW, Fine Wine Buyer

The raspberry and blackberry fruit are really succulent this year: this is ripe but with fresh mineral touches. Les Champeaux is a cooler site, hence the detail and delicacy.

“This is definitely the best vintage I have made in white,” says Benjamin. “The wines have great vineyard definition; I would just have loved to have made more. It is my style of vintage.” His reds, too, have gorgeous layers of ripe fruit, so 2014 is clearly a significant success all round for Benjamin.

Further cuvées are available from Benjamin and can be found at www.bbr. com/burgundy2014. Note – all the white wines will be bottled under top-quality screwcaps, StelvinLux Plus.