Domaine Leovila – a promishing new start

The world is sometimes strangely small… when rumours regarding new vignerons in Corgoloin come to you from a guy from Dubai who, during the unrest in the Persian Gulf, is staying in Hong Kong.

Goes to show that it is good to have wine friends all over the globe … Finnish drunks, Danish buddhas or just a thistyarab … we are all created equal… with a strong craving for good Burgundy.

The rumour from Corgoloin was about a young lady … Léocadie Benech … taking over an exciting domaine in Corgoloin and establishing a new … temporary estate building in Chorey-Les-Beane.

Covering half of the world, I reach rue d´Aloxe Corton in Chorey. I meet Léocadie in a modest chai on the outskirts of the village.

She is a no-bullshit type … talk from the heart it seems … and the tasting was both liberating and interesting … not much superficial marketing here … focus the is on both the white and the reds ,,, equally interesting and of very good quality.

The ‘to the core’ talk is probably due to her academic background … Ingénieur agronome / Œnologue · French viticulture engineer and enologist from Bordeaux (Bordeaux Sciences Agro/ISVV). 

The background

Léocadie Benech took her wine education in Bordeaux … and she has worked at Château Figeac in Bordeaux and in Argentina, where she has some family.

Then there were some estates in Burgundy, Chisa Bize and Dujac, before ending up with Domaine Fornerol in Corgoloin … where Didier Fornerol was running his estate, before he decided to transmit the estate to Léocadie Benech after she worked for a few years. The last vintage at Domaine Fornerol was 2024, and Léocadie Benech also made the 2023 vintage at Fornerol … giving her an insight into the vineyards.

She took over the vineyards in time to make the 2025 vintage and to transfer the viticulture to organic (Bio) in 2024.

First vintage of Leovila is 2025… and the Winehog is here to taste… for sure!

Tasting of the 2025 vintage

I like to taste and learn … so basics are whole cluster grapes, little or no new oak, say 10% max … a mild vinification with little extraction giving wines of good but moderate colour.

The wines are pure and delicate … no issues whatsoever during the tasting of the 2025s … one feels a sure hand. The whites are fresh and delicate with no over-ripeness of superripe phenolics in 2025. The wines are as we like them… with a lovely energy … there is a fine potential here. It’s a new estate … but it seems like all is 100% under control.

The estate has 6.5 ha of vineyards in the Corgoloin area and a few above the Corgoloin area. Production 15.000 – 20.000 bottles per vintage.

Tasting notes

The Domaine Leovila Aligoté 2025 is a vivid and fresh wine for the vintage. Only 12% alcohol does help … old Damy oak … could aid the fresh note. An enjoyable and quite intense Aligoté – a very good start from Corgoloin – plot is Arnolots in the middle of the village.

The Domaine Leovila Bourgogne Blanc 2025 is quite cool for the vintage, with a nice hint of reduction … nicely balanced, with the phenolics under control with some support from the lees. A delightful glass.

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