White Burgundy Benjamin Leroux 2022 Meursault-Blagney Premier Cru La Piece Sous Le Bois

Benjamin Leroux only wants the best—the best grapes, from the best locations, in the best winemaking region on Earth. His wines range from stellar (and affordable) Bourgogne Blanc and Rouge all the way up to some of the finest Grand Cru wines Burgundy has to offer.

At the time of his domaine’s founding, in 2007, land in the Côte d’Or fetched prices to the tune of millions of euros—and prices have only gone up. Rather than spend a king’s ransom on vineyards, Ben prefers to purchase grapes from established growers, already intimately familiar with their particular parcels. The majority are farmed either organically or biodynamically, all with a goal of sustainability in mind.

He claims we will never see an estate-bottled wine from him. Why should he expect grapes grown on land he owns to be superior to grapes farmed by his friends and neighbors? His particular skill is in the cellar—in fact, he’s been training in the field of winemaking since the tender age of 13, when he enrolled in Beaune’s Lycée Viticole.

His pursuit of knowledge led him to stints in Bordeaux, Oregon, and New Zealand, and a long-term position as general manager at Pommard’s Comte Armand. His decades-long career in winemaking has provided all of the knowledge necessary to focus on the cellar—and the ability to establish relationships with only the finest grape growers. You might say that he’s cherry-picking Burgundy’s best...grapes.