Domaine Leroy – vin d’émotion

I have followed Domaine Leroy since the beginning in 1988, buying my first bottles in the vintage 1989 … the second vintage of this pristine estate.

I have tasted the Grand Crus first at a crazy tasting in Restaurant Kommandanten – the first two-star in Copenhagen … yes, I have been there in the early and crazy days before the wines were hyped. RSV 1988 was 300 EUR retail in Denmark!!!

I have tasted quite a few now and again … and always the Domaine wines have left me with a strong impression … tasted young … low yield intensity and complexity brought forward by a quite ample oak impression. The biodynamic grapes often give another kind of life and tension to the wine.

But when they age … the oak resides, and the phenolic complexity explodes… these can be truly memorable bottles.

I have met Mme Leroy a few times in the vineyards – once just before harvest in Le Chambertin … showing that quality is of the essence even now! And she will be there herself to ensure the quality.

Are they Domaine Leroy wines, Vin d’émotion? … not at first glance, like the wines of DRC, the oak has to integrate and be absorbed… and then the complexity of the low yields and the methoclus viticulture sets in with detailed flavours and hedonistic phenolics after some years in the bottle.

Is Domaine Leroy Vin d’Émotion … bien sûr!

Mme Lalou Bize Leroy deserves all the admiration and honour she gets for the admirable steps she has taken to take Burgundy further during the last 60 years. As a woman, she broke through the still male-dominant society and networks and has made a strong impression on the Burgundies we know today.

Why not before … well, I have great respect for the icons of this world … and I want to do it at the right occasion… and this time has come now …

I salute Mme Lalou Bize Leroy … and hereby include Domaine Leroy as Vin d’émotion at the top level in Vosne-Romanée.