2013 Benjamin Leroux, Gevrey-Chambertin

The malolactic had finished only a month before I tasted the 2013 Gevrey-Chambertin Village. It has a surprisingly introverted bouquet with crisp blackberry leaf and raspberry preserve scents. The palate is ripe and grippy on the entry, plenty of black fruit and a saline finish that begs another sip. Give this a year in bottle, but don't be surprised if it lasts several years or more because there is real substance here.

(a mix of four lieu-dits , including 50% Seuvrées; this wine only finished its malolactic fermentation in October): Good dark red. Slightly reduced nose offers dark cherry, mocha, underbrush and a whiff of animal fur. Fat, sweet and ripe, with a pliant texture that should give this wine rapid appeal. Finishes with ripe tannins and sweet, lingering perfume.

Mid crimson. Lively aromas of ripe cherry and a light touch of oak's own sweetness. Oak and tannins repressing some of that aroma on the palate, though it is there to be liberated with time in bottle. Finely structured, juicy finish. (JH)