Long before Lalou-Bize Leroy started up her eponymous
domaine in 1988, Maison Leroy had built itself a reputation as the finest
negociant house in Burgundy.
Originally founded by Francois Leroy in 1868, the
house became famous for its collection of old vintages as much as being a key
shareholder in and global distributor of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti until 1992
(except for the United States and the UK.) Francois' great grand-daughter,
Lalou-Bize, joined the family firm in 1955 and then became Directeur General in
1971. With the help of investment from a
Japanese distributor, Lalou purchased vineyards and created Domaine Leroy. Setting about a relentless search for quality
and embarking on a pioneering bio-dynamic revolution, she soon became one of
Burgundy's icons.
We were thrilled, therefore, to welcome Leroy's Gilles Desprez
to London recently, who guided us through some fine white burgundies from their
current collection, as well as a rather spoiling pair of Domaine Leroy
Vosne-Romanee Beaux Monts.
The line-up of Leroys presented by Gilles Desprez
The collection is released once a year and at first
glance the selection looks haphazard, but this is far from the case. For there
is one very strict criteria on which the list is based-a wine's readiness to
drink. Hence due to the style of a particular wine in a particular year, young
vintages can appear before older vintages or a wine can be relegated back to
the cellars when closing down only to reappear years later. A case in point is
the delicious Meursault 2001. First offered in the prime of its youth and now
listed amongst young premiers crus on the current catalogue, this has found a
noble maturity. With flavours of citrus, butter honey and hazelnuts, this
boasts all you could hope for in bottled-aged white Burgundy and offers a
quality that belies its "villages" level. This a typical acquisition of Lalou's, with her
sharp and uncompromising palate she is free to select any wines that come up to
the mark, irrespective of status or reputation, and without the constraint of
grower contracts. Once selected the
wines usually undergo malo, ageing and bottling in the Leroy cellars. Another highlight of our tasting was the
youthful Puligny Folatieres 2013, citrus and stones offset very gently by a
little puppy fat - a beautifully balanced white burgundy fitting of the Puligny
appellation.
The crescendo came in the form of two domaine wines a
2014 and 1996 Vosne Romainee Les Beaux Monts.
The younger vintage, initially reductive and without giving much away,
showed a quality of texture and concentration common to all of the Domaine Leroy
wines. Silky, focused and intense. The 1996 proved how time and patience are
essential for the Leroy wines. A vintage
of famously high acidity and firm tannins, yet this had no hint of a hard edge. Smooth, satin-like dark berry fruit, mineral
cherry and smoke. Still extremely
youthful but giving great pleasure right now.