2014 Benjamin Leroux Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting, Leroux's 2014 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru has a powerful nose with much more tropical scents than I would expect from this vintage: mango and passion fruit, a touch of orange rind with time. The palate is rich on the entry with that mango/passion fruit theme continuing and the wood nicely integrated, but it just does not quite deliver the mineralité or tension you would expect. Not bad at all, but here it was surpassed by some of its peers.

(13.2% natural alcohol; Leroux owns these vines): Healthy pale yellow. Very ripe, deeply pitched aromas of apricot and subtle spices. Highly concentrated and plush, offering a high-wire act of sweet fruit and brisk acidity. This rather powerful Batard is going to require time in bottle to harmonize fully.