Benjamin Leroux

In 2008, when Jancis Robinson asked Allen Meadows, aka Burghound, who he think is the natural heir of the late great Henri Jayer, Benjamin Leroux is one of the two persons Allen Meadows can think of!  Seriously, this wine by Benjamin Leroux impressed me so much that I cannot agree with Allen Meadows more on his extremely positive comment on Benjamin Leroux.

If you are a fan of Burgundy wines, even if you haven’t heard of Maison Benjamin Leroux, you must have heard about Comte Armand, considered by many to be the best estate located in Pommard.  Benjamin Leroux was the Regisseur at Domaine du Comte Armand, Clos des Epeneaux before he started his own Maison in 2007.  As a small operation, Benjamin Leroux and two other growers, decided to pool their resources by sharing a small facilities with a logistic/labeling company.  Benjamin Leroux's ultimate aim is to have his own domaine. 

About Benjamin Leroux

Benjamin Leroux, although just 37 years old, has extensive knowledge and experience in oenology and winemaking.  It is hard not to impress with Benjamin's wide and international exposure.  Benjamin has worked with Pascal Marchand at Domaine du Comte Armand from 1990 to 1992.  From there, he understand the importance to use as less chemical as possible and to adopt an organic approach to winemaking.
 
In 1994, he travelled to Oregon to work for Drouhin.  His experience in Oregon let Benjamin to challenge many of the traditional viticulture approach in Burgundy such as Burgundy traditional canopy height.
 
In 1997, he worked for Cos d’Estournel in Bordeaux to allow him to work on something different from Pinot Noir.  Unlike Burgundy wine, almost all Bordeaux wines are blended.  Experience at Cos d’Estournel allowed Benjamin to learn a lot about blending.
 
After leaving Cos d’Estournel, he worked in Burgundy again in Devevey and Maison Jadot.  Following that, Benjamin travelled again to New Zealand and worked at Geisen.  New Zealand's winery is noted for their hygiene but Benjamin was not impressed by the extreme hygiene at that level.  The lack of indigenous yeast in winery can lead to wines that lack character.
 
In Jun 1999, Benjamin was appointed as the régisseur at the prestigious Domaine Comte Armand.  He was in charge of almost everything, from viticulture and winemaking to sales and accounting. 

Viticulture and Vinification Philosophy

Benjamin's philosophy is low intervention and to let wines to express itself as naturally as possible.  Biodynamic farming practices are used.  To Benjamin, both vines and wines are following the 28 days cycle of the moon.  Viticulture and vinification practices such as picking, racking and bottling, should follow the rhythm of this moon cycle.  Benjamin believes that biodyanamic farming gives vines stronger resistence to diseases and producing grapes with higher acidity even when fully ripe.  Benjamin also believes in high density planting.  He is experimenting with 20,000 or even 30,000 vines per hectare.  Most other high density planting producers in Burgundy is planting with 10,000 vines per hectare.
 
He wants wine that is powerful yet elegance.  This is partly achieved by always picking grapes when they reach their phenolic ripeness.  In addition, there is generally an extended one-week maceration period after fermentation.  Benjamin's theory is that tannins will initially increase and then polymerize, leading to a more harmonious wine.