Benjamin Leroux’s 2022 Échezeaux Grand Cru is a very small-production Pinot Noir from Burgundy’s Côte de Nuits, sourced from the En Orveaux sector of Échezeaux. Production is minuscule: the wine was raised in “a single new 456 litre barrel,” according to Jasper Morris MW (Inside Burgundy), and only one cask was made. Leroux also used roughly 50% whole clusters in fermentation, a choice that often brings added structure and aromatic lift in Pinot Noir. The finished wine is labeled at 13.5% alcohol.

In early tastings, reviewers underline both its pedigree and its current, still-forming profile. Morris, whose review is an excellent one at 94–96 points (listed as 96 here), notes a youthful, just-out-of-élevage character: “Mid purple, with a reductive nose, having not yet been racked,” along with “a slight bacon fat reduction.” He also emphasizes the payoff on the palate, writing that “the intensity of fruit explodes on the palate behind the wood,” while adding a clear expectation that integration will improve: “this will come round with longer elevage.” It’s a barrel-sample snapshot of a grand cru built for time, with new-oak influence currently more apparent than it should be in bottle.

Neal Martin (Vinous) is slightly more reserved at 90–92 points (listed as 92), but still finds clear appeal in the raw materials. He calls the wine “unsurprisingly backward on the nose,” yet highlights “very attractive, minerally red fruit” and a palate with “firm grip,” including “orange rind-infused red fruit.” Martin also flags that the finish is “slightly conservative…that needs a little more flesh,” while suggesting it may arrive “during the rest of the élevage.”

Taken together, the reports point to a tightly wound, seriously scaled Échezeaux: concentrated fruit, evident structure, and the kind of early reduction and oak frame that typically settles with patience.