This is the first release of this old-vine label. Looking for a new source of high-quality, old-vine Aligoté, Leroux ‘chanced across’ this parcel of vines late in 2022. His plan was to simply find a great source for massale cuttings to work with in the future, but after tasting the first vintage from cask, he knew he had found something special. The Grands Champs vineyard lies in Chassagne Montrachet, below the village and next to the restored 19th century washhouse of Fontaine Saulx. The plot of 97-year-old vines is unusual in that all the vines are completely healthy and there are no replacements. Vinified in a 12-hectolitre cask, it’s a wonderful and full-bodied example. It shows considerably more texture and spicy complexity from the small bunches than the straight Aligoté.

Back in his Domaine Comte Armand days, Leroux was one of the first in Burgundy to celebrate old-vine Aligoté. Working with great, old-vine material and super-precise winemaking, this wine remains at the top of the spectrum. The key components are Leroux’s parcel of 50-year-old vines in Meursault’s Les Belles Roses climat. The vine material comes from the high-quality, low-yielding Aligoté Doré cultivar. The 2023 fermented and matured in seasoned 12-hectolitre ovals, with half in glass WineGlobes and stoneware amphora.

This year’s wine is drawn almost entirely from Leroux’s Estate vineyards in Meursault—including Les Millerands, Sous la Velle and Les Belles Côtes. Again, Leroux used a tiny parcel of purchased fruit from the Hautes Côtes de Beaune above Pernand-Vergelesses to add a touch of pep. There are six parcels in total, and everything matured in large casks and foudres. Unlike the majority of Bourgogne (from the foot of the hill and across the D974), Leroux’s Estate vines grow on lower slopes of the Côte, situated below the village-level vines of Meursault but on the upper side of the road.

The Meursault is an Estate wine, based solely on Leroux’s own vines in Moulin Landin, Les Criots, Bois de Blagny and Les Millerands. There’s also some Clos du Village, one of the new parcels in Meursault that Leroux picked up in 2017. These sites are mostly lower in the village, but Leroux also used fruit from the higher white marls of Bois de Blagny, which brings drive and a salty/mineral backbone to the layered fleshiness of the other Meursault fruit. Each of these sites is certified organic and biodynamically managed . The oldest vines date back to 1944. Fermentation and maturation occurred in 300-litre and 600-litre barrels before the wine was racked to foudre and stainless steel to finish aging. Terrific.

This year's blend includes Bourgogne-level fruit from Leroux’s key sources: the excellent Maison Dieu in Pommard, Mon Poulain in Volnay, and Les Belles Côtes in Meursault. In 2023, these sites were complemented by village and 1er Cru wines from Monthélie. Leroux opted to use whole-bunch fermentation only on the homegrown components. Maturation took place in 2,200-litre Grenier oak cask alongside ten 228-litre barrels, (10% new). As always, this punches way above its weight division.

The lion’s share of this release comes from the outstanding Aux Fourneaux lieu-dit in the north of the village. Leroux works with lots of Pinot Fin here (a high-quality, low-yielding Pinot Noir cultivar), giving low yields and great concentration. The fruit from these vines, fermented with 15% bunches, includes about 10% from the 1er Cru section of the vineyard. The Connardises parcel that used to contribute to this cuvée has now been sold, and replaced this year by Saucours, a vineyard on the western extension of the slope that includes Les Hauts Jarrons. Leroux explains that Saucours, on alluvial soils, brings the bright red fruits and Aux Fourneaux provides the depth and backbone. It’s a fine combination that may even surpass the previous blend.

One of Leroux’s close friends owns these vines in the heart of the 1er Cru on the east-facing Beaune side of Savigny. The most elegant Savigny wines tend to come from this area, so it is perfect for powerful years. Like most Côte d’Or terrain, the soils are clay/limestone, but the clay is light and sandy. So, although there’s more flesh than in the village cuvée, there is also greater finesse. All the fruit was destemmed this year, and again, it is a wonderfully bright and juicy rendition of 2023. As always, it’s an excellent value 1er Cru that will drink well from release, but will also benefit from at least short-term aging (3-7 years). It aged entirely in 228-litre barrels (up to five years old).

Leroux is a master of Volnay and has produced outstanding examples for over two decades. A similar cuvee to last year, the 2023 is a blend of Les Grands Poisots and Les Petits Poisots, the two lieux-dits that border Pommard. Then, there is a healthy selection from Leroux’s 1er Cru vineyards. Leaning towards Pommard in style, the deep clay soils and old vines here give density and ripe tannins, which Leroux complements with judicious use of whole bunches and maturation in large oak. It’s a deep yet wonderfully complex Pinot, and already drinking well. Outstanding for the level.

One of the signature cuvées of the Leroux stable, Clos de la Cave des Ducs is a 0.64-hectare monopole owned by the family of Leroux’s right-hand man, Jean-Charles Carré. It’s a wine that was rarely seen before Leroux started bottling this wine in 2007. It’s Volnay’s highest 1er Cru and has fine, light soils that typically produce wines of great delicacy. The vines are up to 80 years old (an average age of 50 years) and include some 20-year-old mass-selection vines from Comte Armand’s Clos des Epeneaux. The site is managed biodynamically and with meticulous care—Carré and Leroux test their most progressive viticulture here. Leroux has noted that recent harvests have seen the Clos move towards an even finer, more floral expression, and this is precisely what you get in 2023. Fermented with 10% whole bunches, expect a striking synthesis of silky, floral-edged fruit with terrific freshness and drive.

Another change here, meaning Leroux’s Gevrey-villages now comes entirely from vines in the north of the appellation. Now that En Champs has its own cuvée (see below) and Les Seuvrées in the south has gone, Les Crais, Creux Broulliard and Les Champerriers lead the charge. Then, there is a brilliant (and brilliantly named) Brochon vineyard, Les Jeunes Rois, which brings dimension and spicy freshness to this cuvée. Suffice to say that Leroux is very happy with the new makeup. Each parcel was vinified separately before blending, with 80% of the fruit destemmed. The wine was aged in 600-litre and 225-litre barrels (15% new). As for Nuits, so for Gevrey, with Leroux fashioning a village wine with a finesse and seduction rarely seen in this village.

This is just the third release from this fine terroir, situated just below the Grand Cru Chapelle Chambertin—and one that shares much of that vineyard’s blue-blooded attributes. The soils are limestone scree covered with a thin layer of clay topsoil. This site gives Leroux a prettier and more elegant expression than the more structured Cazetiers (below), although both are fine and pretty in 2023. Regardless, this possesses real quality and breed thanks to its proximity to the Grands Crus.

Leroux’s terrific Auxey-Duresses has always been one of the range’s great-value wines—drinking superbly young and aging very well, too. The fruit comes from two terroirs—Les Hautés and La Macabrée —both abutting Meursault’s Les Vireuils Dessous and Les Meix Chavaux. The oldest vines date back to 1946. The land here faces north, enduring the cold air rolling down from the Hautes Côtes—a very fresh terroir! The higher vineyards of the Côte often perform well in warmer years, and this is a perfect example of the phenomenon. You find the punchy, vibrant freshness and minerality of the place woven through a generous core of flesh. This was vinified in 12-hectolitre casks, with a portion of the blend raised for 15 months in 600-litre barrels.

Only five hectares of Pinot Noir remain in Blagny, and Leroux has almost one of them. The vines sit above the Dos de l’Âne in the lower part of the vineyard. Leroux has long beaten the drum for this limestone-rich, high-altitude terroir for both whites and reds. He is only getting more vocal with the changes in the climate! He first vinified a Pinot from here in 2014 and was so enamoured with the quality that he acquired an Estate parcel at the earliest opportunity, in 2017. A band of hail passed through here in June 2023, naturally reducing yields to 45hl/ha. 15% new oak this year.

An ouvrée describes a piece of land that one person could farm themselves. This limited magnum bottling debuted in 2022, with the wine made using vinification intégrale, a form of barrel fermentation where the wine is rolled in barrel instead of being punched down or pumped over. So pleased with the result, Leroux has repeated the project, this year using Vosne-Romanée fruit from his vineyard La Croix Blanche. A stellar Bourgogne Rouge that should not be missed!

Albeit with a barrel of 1er Cru included, 2023 is mostly the same blend of Les Athets and Les Chardannes as the 2022. These two sites sit at the base of the Chambolle hill on clay, silt and limestone soils. Leroux has once again sculpted an outstanding rendition of the village using roughly 30% bunches and 20% new oak. It’s pretty, perfumed, fine and juicy—in other words, it’s classic Chambolle!

A wonderful surprise in 2022, and arguably even finer in 2023. This wine is drawn from a hillside vineyard in Comblanchien, a village just south of Nuits-St-Georges that is gaining more and more attention (along with the neighbouring village of Corgoloin) as a source of outstanding red and whites. Leroux jokes that the limestone dust from the nearby quarry helps keep the berries free from mildew. The vineyard is certified organic and managed by a friend and ex-colleague of Leroux. Sourced from two parcels across 0.25 hectares, one with 40-year-old vines and the other 15-plus-years-old, the wine started aging in barrel before finishing in foudre. It’s a lovely, classy red Burgundy at a great price.

This vineyard was historically blended into Leroux’s Gevrey villages, yet it has been so good for the last handful of vintages that Leroux was tempted to bottle it separately. Finally, he succumbed, bottling five barrels under their own label. Close to the Brochon borderline, En Champs sits high up on the slope, just beneath the 1er Cru Champeaux at the northern end of what is sometimes called the ‘Côte Saint-Jacques.’ Some followers of Domaine Denis Mortet will have had outstanding examples of this high-grown terroir in the past. The soils here are very stony with red clays, and the cooling winds and altitude moderate the climate. Leroux’s example is a deeper, more serious and more ferrous wine than his village bottlings. Yes, there’s depth, but also lovely, high-toned fruit, loads of spice, and very fine tannins on the finish. It fermented with 40% bunches.

Leroux’s Estate Bâtard comes from a brilliant 0.16-hectare plot of 40-year-old vines right next to the Hospices de Beaune’s parcel and directly across the road (maybe fifteen metres!) from DRC’s parcel of Le Montrachet. It falls on the Chassagne side of the vineyard, for what it’s worth (which means nothing, to be frank, but we’re regularly asked so there you go). Leroux gained full control of the vineyard management here in 2016. He recently restored the original stone entrance, so it’s quite easy to find his plot if you’re ever driving along the boundary between Bâtard and Le Montrachet. Alongside Les Genevrières, Bâtard was the first to be harvested in 2023. Three barrels were made, with less than one-third new oak, in the form of one 228-litre barrel. As always, a remarkable, epic white Burgundy.

Leroux’s Estate Bâtard comes from a brilliant 0.16-hectare plot of 40-year-old vines right next to the Hospices de Beaune’s parcel and directly across the road (maybe fifteen metres!) from DRC’s parcel of Le Montrachet. It falls on the Chassagne side of the vineyard, for what it’s worth (which means nothing, to be frank, but we’re regularly asked so there you go). Leroux gained full control of the vineyard management here in 2016. He recently restored the original stone entrance, so it’s quite easy to find his plot if you’re ever driving along the boundary between Bâtard and Le Montrachet. Alongside Les Genevrières, Bâtard was the first to be harvested in 2023. Three barrels were made, with less than one-third new oak, in the form of one 228-litre barrel. As always, a remarkable, epic white Burgundy.

Leroux’s three barrels of Chambertin are drawn from a parcel of old, biodynamically farmed vines in the heart of Le Chambertin. The 2023 was vinified with 80% bunches. Australia’s allocation is limited to six magnums! This is utterly magnificent: deep and true, yet with an otherworldly elegance. One-third new oak this year, including one barrel pre-seasoned with white before filling.

Leroux’s three barrels of Chambertin are drawn from a parcel of old, biodynamically farmed vines in the heart of Le Chambertin. The 2023 was vinified with 80% bunches. Australia’s allocation is limited to six magnums! This is utterly magnificent: deep and true, yet with an otherworldly elegance. One-third new oak this year, including one barrel pre-seasoned with white before filling.

Leroux’s three barrels of Chambertin are drawn from a parcel of old, biodynamically farmed vines in the heart of Le Chambertin. The 2023 was vinified with 80% bunches. Australia’s allocation is limited to six magnums! This is utterly magnificent: deep and true, yet with an otherworldly elegance. One-third new oak this year, including one barrel pre-seasoned with white before filling.

Leroux’s three barrels of Chambertin are drawn from a parcel of old, biodynamically farmed vines in the heart of Le Chambertin. The 2023 was vinified with 80% bunches. Australia’s allocation is limited to six magnums! This is utterly magnificent: deep and true, yet with an otherworldly elegance. One-third new oak this year, including one barrel pre-seasoned with white before filling.

Leroux’s three barrels of Chambertin are drawn from a parcel of old, biodynamically farmed vines in the heart of Le Chambertin. The 2023 was vinified with 80% bunches. Australia’s allocation is limited to six magnums! This is utterly magnificent: deep and true, yet with an otherworldly elegance. One-third new oak this year, including one barrel pre-seasoned with white before filling.

Leroux’s three barrels of Chambertin are drawn from a parcel of old, biodynamically farmed vines in the heart of Le Chambertin. The 2023 was vinified with 80% bunches. Australia’s allocation is limited to six magnums! This is utterly magnificent: deep and true, yet with an otherworldly elegance. One-third new oak this year, including one barrel pre-seasoned with white before filling.

Leroux’s three barrels of Chambertin are drawn from a parcel of old, biodynamically farmed vines in the heart of Le Chambertin. The 2023 was vinified with 80% bunches. Australia’s allocation is limited to six magnums! This is utterly magnificent: deep and true, yet with an otherworldly elegance. One-third new oak this year, including one barrel pre-seasoned with white before filling.

Leroux’s three barrels of Chambertin are drawn from a parcel of old, biodynamically farmed vines in the heart of Le Chambertin. The 2023 was vinified with 80% bunches. Australia’s allocation is limited to six magnums! This is utterly magnificent: deep and true, yet with an otherworldly elegance. One-third new oak this year, including one barrel pre-seasoned with white before filling.

Leroux’s three barrels of Chambertin are drawn from a parcel of old, biodynamically farmed vines in the heart of Le Chambertin. The 2023 was vinified with 80% bunches. Australia’s allocation is limited to six magnums! This is utterly magnificent: deep and true, yet with an otherworldly elegance. One-third new oak this year, including one barrel pre-seasoned with white before filling.

Leroux’s three barrels of Chambertin are drawn from a parcel of old, biodynamically farmed vines in the heart of Le Chambertin. The 2023 was vinified with 80% bunches. Australia’s allocation is limited to six magnums! This is utterly magnificent: deep and true, yet with an otherworldly elegance. One-third new oak this year, including one barrel pre-seasoned with white before filling.

Leroux’s three barrels of Chambertin are drawn from a parcel of old, biodynamically farmed vines in the heart of Le Chambertin. The 2023 was vinified with 80% bunches. Australia’s allocation is limited to six magnums! This is utterly magnificent: deep and true, yet with an otherworldly elegance. One-third new oak this year, including one barrel pre-seasoned with white before filling.

Leroux’s three barrels of Chambertin are drawn from a parcel of old, biodynamically farmed vines in the heart of Le Chambertin. The 2023 was vinified with 80% bunches. Australia’s allocation is limited to six magnums! This is utterly magnificent: deep and true, yet with an otherworldly elegance. One-third new oak this year, including one barrel pre-seasoned with white before filling.

Leroux’s three barrels of Chambertin are drawn from a parcel of old, biodynamically farmed vines in the heart of Le Chambertin. The 2023 was vinified with 80% bunches. Australia’s allocation is limited to six magnums! This is utterly magnificent: deep and true, yet with an otherworldly elegance. One-third new oak this year, including one barrel pre-seasoned with white before filling.