Benjamin Leroux Chassagne Montrachet Les Embazees Blanc 2015

Tasting Notes

Another of Chassagne's lesser-known gems being explored by Leroux, Embazées can also be bottled under the Bois de Chassagne name but is typically labelled as Embrazées, even though the correct name on the map is Embazées, without the 'r'. This site sits right on the south-western border of Chassagne above Tête du Clos and just below Les Baudines. So it is a terrific terroir with shallow top soil that is full of limestone pebbles. Leroux works with just 0.28-hectares planted around 1980. Both this wine and Les Baudines were vinified with 20% new oak. Tasted from barrel, this was looking full and silky with brilliant purity and striking mineral freshness contributing to the wine's agile, energetic feel.

'Very ripe, expressive aromas of peach, pear, nuts and wildflowers. Wonderfully silky and sweet but framed by lively harmonious acidity; really spreads out to fill the mouth without leaving any impression of heaviness. The broad, slightly phenolic finish dusts the palate and vibrates. Slightly higher in alcohol than the Baudines, at 13.6%. Both of these vineyards produced about 40 hectoliters per hectare from 35-year-old vines, according to Leroux, who noted that this wine was "difficult" until mid-April and is now gaining in freshness. " 90-93 points, Stephen Tanzer, Vinous.com