Benjamin Leroux Meursault Les Narvaux 2020

Les Narvaux sits among the very highest vineyards in Meursault, just above the premier cru Les Genevrières, and Leroux's tiny parcel here — barely a tenth of a hectare, right at the top of the slope in what's known as Narvaux Dessus, within the walled Clos de Narvaux — sits directly alongside vines belonging to the legendary Dominique Lafon. Planted in 1975 with a small proportion of old Chardonnay Muscaté vines mixed in, the soils are shallow, limestone-rich, and streaked with iron oxide that gives the clay a distinct reddish tinge, or "terres rouges." Despite the elevation, the site faces south, which, combined with naturally low yields, allows for genuinely excellent ripeness alongside real freshness. For a generation the vineyard was tended entirely by hand, without a tractor, by a vigneron named Jean, who worked it right up until his final hours at the age of 85 — Leroux's back label carries a quiet tribute: "Les Vignes de Jean." The fruit is whole-cluster pressed and fermented on indigenous yeasts, then aged in barrel without any new oak, letting this remarkable, hand-farmed site speak entirely for itself.

The result is round, textural, and intensely mineral: pear, green apple, and white flowers meet fresh hazelnut and a touch of citrus, with a fine-boned, chalky structure that critics consistently single out for its charm and precision — William Kelley of the Wine Advocate has called it "elegantly open-knit," and the wine regularly scores in the low-to-mid 90s across vintages. It's approachable young yet has the structure to develop further with a few years in the cellar.