We’ve just received our rare allocations of the superlative 2019 Benjamin Leroux and Laurent Tribut cuvees.
These are incredibly rare, but we still have some left. Please send us an email at sales@citywineshop.net.au
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It's a double header offer, so please get in quick to get hold of these fantastic wines - their a great addition to any cellar.
2019 Benjamin Leroux and Laurent Tribut
~ Benjamin Leroux is a Burgundian local, Leroux is one of the brightest stars and talent of his generation.
A legend in the making, Leroux's wines are some of the most exciting in modern-day Burgundy.
~ Laurent Tribut married Marie-Clotilde Dauvissat and joined one of Chablis’ most famous winemaking families. Tribut´s wines are immediately appealing, crisp and lively with lovely fruit, lemony aromas, spicy apple flavors, good balance, and a silky finish. His AOC Chablis is a point of reference for the appellation, while his Premier Cru wines are Chardonnay with all its complexity and toasty, citrusy flavors in harmony.
~ The 2019 vintage is heavily celebrated, while 2018 was marked by record harvests & showcasing a more tropical fruit forward style, 2019 has been defined as distinctly classic. Showing equal promise to 2018, with a bit more warmth - and a touch more acidity, with superbly aromatic explosion early on.
“This was an excellent portfolio of 2019s from Leroux. The reds, which are unlikely to be racked until next March, are studded with some exceptionally finely crafted wines that seemed to be sculpted by a smallest chisel in the set...” Neal Martin, Vinous
2019 Benjamin Leroux
Benjamin Leroux, the gifted manager/winemaker of Domaine Comte Armand launched his own label with the 2007 vintage. He works from a brand new winery in the center of Beaune (just off the Boulevard) that he shares with Dominique Lafon and two other wine growers. The operation is very small and will eventually specialise, primarily, in Puligny and Volnay, but with many other appellations also covered. While there are over twenty terroirs produced, this is certainly a ‘micro negociant’ operation with only two to five barrels made of most of the cuvees.
2019 Benjamin Leroux Meursault - $168
Fruit hailing from 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 following the 2017 harvest. Fruit from the white marls of Bois de Blagny accounts for 20% this year and brings incredible drive and salty/mineral backbone to the layered, fleshy Meursault fruit.
“Domaine. From Criots, Clos du village, Moulin Landin and Pellands on the lower slopes plus Bois de Blagny above. Made in a mix of foudre, 600 litre and 300 litre wood. Medium lemon colour, this has a svelte soft and appealing fruit, with enough tension behind to hold up, and a very long finish. Agreeable lemon fruit throughout, but this is taking on the weight of classic Meursault.” Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy
2019 Benjamin Leroux Meursault Les Vireuils - $180
This is a high grown wine of wonderful purity and mineral drive. 2016 notwithstanding, Leroux has been making this wine from the same 0.35 hectares of vines since 2002 (pre-2007, this was at Comte Armand). This is from three parcels in Vireuils Dessus—one of the higher sites of Meursault—which sits above the renowned Les Chevalières and Rougeots lieux-dits in one of the best parts of Meursault for villages level. Vireuils is an east-facing, late-ripening site, with pure, rocky, limestone and flint soils and vines at around 45 years of age.
“The 2019 Meursault Les Vireuils has a lively bouquet of grilled walnuts, smoke and gunflint aromas that soar from the glass. The palate is well balanced with quite a rich and honeyed entry. Weighty and assertive in the mouth, it delivers a tangy marmalade finish. Maybe a little "obvious" compared to some crus, but certainly well crafted and full of flavor.” Neal Martin, Vinous
2019 Benjamin Leroux Bourgogne Rouge - $73
A great mixture of sites this year includes 25% villages wines from St-Romain Sous le Château, Savigny and Monthelie. The Bourgogne-level fruit was drawn from the excellent Maison Dieu in Pommard, Mon Poulain in Volnay, Belles Côtes in Meursault and Croix Blanche in Vosne. Then there’s a good glug from the Dames Huguettes vineyard which lies in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits above Vosne-Romanée.
“75% comes from Bourgogne and Hautes Côtes de Nuits Dames Huguettes vineyards, with some fruit from Savigny, St-Romain and Monthelie. Glowing red purple, very exciting lifted fresh dark red fruit. Darker fruit on the palate, but still with a great sense of energy, filling the mouth, balanced fruit and tannins, ready for bottling. Very long.” Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy
2019 Benjamin Leroux Savigny-lès-Beaune - $98 - SOLD OUT
The lion’s share of this vintage comes from two terroirs: the outstanding Aux Fourneaux in the north of the village and Ez Connardises in the heart of the village. There’s also a barrel of 1er Cru Les Hauts Jarrons this year. Twenty per cent whole bunches were used, entirely from the Fourneaux parcel, where lots of Pinot Fin and low yields gave great concentration in 2019.
“The 2019 Savigny-lès-Beaune Village includes 20% whole bunch from village cru Fourneaux and also from Connadises. It has a lovely bouquet – very pure, with crushed strawberry and rose petal aromas and just a touch of vanilla in the background. The medium-bodied palate has a rounded texture, touches of marmalade infusing the dark berry fruit, and a touch of bitter cherry on the finish. Recommended.”
Neal Martin, Vinous
2019 Benjamin Leroux Volnay - $168
This year’s blend was drawn from Les Grands Champs, a site abutting the 1er Cru belt that lies below the village between Les Mitans and the D974. To this parcel, Leroux married his fruit from 1er Cru La Gigotte, which lies directly south (no Les Carelles fruit this year). There was just a little whole bunch this year (mainly from the Gigotte parcel) with Leroux picking out the best looking bunches at the sorting table.
“From Grands Champs and Gigottes, the latter made with whole bunches. Lovely mid crimson purple, with a very stylish bouquet, absolutely typical Volnay. Gorgeously juicy here, good acid balance, a little barrel toast, a most encouraging ensemble.”
Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy
2019 Benjamin Leroux Gevrey-Chambertin - $168
Fifty per cent of Leroux’s 2019 Gevrey hails from 50-year-old vines in Les Seuvrées (bordering Morey) with the northern, limestone-rich La Justice and some old-vines in Les Jeunes Rois (on the Brochon side of the appellation) completing the picture.
“Lovely depth for a village wine, this is very 'Gevrey', with a dark fruit character, lots of spice, more plum than cherry and an earthy, savoury note. On the palate there are firm tannins and a satisfying length. Produced from the lieux-dits of Les Seuvrées and La Justice, among others, there were 10% whole clusters fermented on native yeasts and aged for two winters in cask (20% new).” Decanter Magazine
2019 Benjamin Leroux Vosne-Romanée - $231
Leroux now controls two hectares in Vosne, and the 2019 villages wine benefited from the fruit of five separate lieux-dits. Importantly, these vineyards are home to excellent vine stock—almost exclusively old selections of Pinot Fin. From north to south: Maizières Basses (organically farmed with 60-year-old Pinot Fin vines) lies on the Flagey side of the village close to Clos de Vougeot; there’s a small portion of Les Violettes this year; then there’s Leroux’s new parcel of old-vine Pinot Fin in Genaivrières sitting in the centre, close the village (just beneath those of Domaine Leroy); and finally there are Les Jacquines and Au-dessus de la Rivière, which both lie under the northern 1er Crus of Nuits-Saint-Georges.
“The new barrel component has been racked. The colour is a fresh mid purple, with lots of energy on the nose, and class too, with a very refined raspberry fruit, and a super succulent, but refined feel throughout, and a lifted finish. Really well balanced.”
Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy
"Conditions resulted in a hot, dry, and concentrated vintage, translating into more pronounced mineral characteristics in the wines. Despite the heat the wines have maintained better acidity than 2018 while still displaying some exuberance..." Suppiler notes
2019 Laurent Tribut
Tribut’s wines are exceptional and electric, but still fly under the radar due to their scarcity. This domaine is tiny – their total holdings of 7 hectares are the size of some other growers’ single vineyards!
If you’ve noticed some label similarity with the famed Dauvissat, they’re linked through DNA - Laurent Tribut married Marie-Clotilde Dauvissat and they inherited prized Village and Premier Cru vineyards from her father, René Dauvissat.
Today the estate is in the hands of their three children; Solange, Gabriel and Adéline. They continue the hard work of organic philosophies. In the cellar, old oak is employed for élevage, adding a welcomed curve to these chiselled and mineral driven wines.
It is hard not to compare them with Dauvissat, they both share depth and density.
This bodes well for long lives ahead!
2019 Domaine Laurent Tribut AC Chablis - $95 & 375ml bottles available - $64
“There are plenty of Chablis elements to the ripe, pretty and very fresh aromas of mostly pear and apple scents. There is fine richness to the supple, round and enveloping flavours that exude a refreshing salinity on the ever-so-mildly warm finish. This relatively forward effort should drink well on the younger side if desired.” - Allen Meadows’ Burghound
2019 Domaine Laurent Tribut Chablis ‘Beauroy’ 1er Cru - $128 - SOLD OUT & 375ml bottles available - $80
“A more floral-suffused nose offers up notes of citrus rind, vaguely exotic white and yellow peach plus hints of iodine and spice. There is very good richness and intensity to the seductively textured medium-bodied flavours that deliver fine length on the very well-balanced and noticeably firmer finish.” - Allen Meadows’ Burghound
2019 Domaine Laurent Tribut Chablis ‘Côte de Lechet’ 1er Cru - $128 - SOLD OUT
“A slightly more elegant nose combines an abundance of citrus elements with those of shellfish, tidal pool and subtle quinine nuances. There is impressive power to the intense, solidly concentrated and almost opulent flavours that exhibit very fine length on the dry finale. …”
- Allen Meadows’ Burghound
2018 Domaine Laurent Tribut AC Chablis re-release - $95
“The Tribut family's 2018 Chablis Village was showing well, displaying attractive aromas of citrus fruit, white flowers and toasted almonds. On the palate, it's medium-bodied, with good structuring extract and lively acids, concluding with a chalky finish. It had only been racked to barrel a month before I tasted it, so it's early days to make a definitive pronouncement, but it would appear to be one of the vintage's success stories.
” - Robert Parker Wine Advocate
2018 Domaine Laurent Tribut Chablis ‘Beauroy’ 1er Cru re-release- $128
"As is often the case with this wine there is a touch of exotic fruit in the form of white peach, apricot and melon nuances on the petrol-infused nose that is trimmed in soft wood. The caressing and quite rounded medium-bodied flavours also possess a refreshing salinity on the solidly persistent and complex finale. This markedly dry but not really austere effort is also really quite good and worth considering.”
- Allen Meadows’ Burghound
TO ORDER: Please send us your wish list to: sales@citywineshop.net.au