Who is Lalou Bize Leroy?

Lalou Bize Leroy is one of the world’s most influential and innovative winemakers. She has been a biodynamic enthusiast since 1988 and owns Domaine Leroy, one of the most prestigious and sought-after estates in Burgundy.

She is known for her hard work, exacting standards and avant-garde vision. She has been buying, vinifying and ageing Burgundy’s finest wines since the 1950s. Her wines are among the most expensive and sought-after in the industry.

What is the history of Domaine Leroy?

Lalou Bize-Leroy began her career in the wine business in 1955, joining the family wine merchant business alongside her father and taking over its management in 1971. Her father Henri Leroy’s professionalism and passion made Maison Leroy, the company founded by his grandfather in 1868, the jewel of Burgundy.

In 1974, together with Aubert de Villaine, she became co-owner of the famous Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, another great Burgundy estate, until early 1992.

©️Charles O’Rear/Corbis/Getty Image/Capital 

In 1988, this enthusiast and lover of the terroir acquired several major vineyards, including Domaine Charles Noellat and Domaine Philippe Rémy, as well as a number of other fine vines (Corton Renardes, Corton Charlemagne, Chambolle-Musigny Charmes, Musigny) to form Domaine Leroy.

Without delay, she decided to convert the entire vineyard to biodynamic agriculture. She banned chemical treatments and all products that could kill soil and plant life, using natural preparations and integrating knowledge of lunar cycles for work in the vineyard and cellar, right through to bottling the wines at Domaine Leroy in Vosne-Romanée.

In the end, biodynamics is common sense. And it’s a way of living and thinking. Morally and physically, I couldn’t do otherwise.

Lalou Bize-Leroy, interview for EN MAGNUM magazine.

©️Domaine Leroy

Domaine Leroy comprises 22 hectares of vines and produces a range of wines from different Burgundy appellations, including 9 Grands Crus (Richebourg, Romanée-Saint-Vivant, Clos Vougeot, Chambertin…), 9 Premiers Crus and 8 Villages.

Lalou Bize-Leroy later founded Domaine d’Auvenay in Saint-Romain, a small but legendary estate.

What kind of wines does Lalou Bize-Leroy make?

Lalou Bize-Leroy relentlessly pursues the best by limiting yields and using natural yeasts in the fermentation process, allowing the terroir of each vineyard to fully express its identity in the wine.

His wines are known for their complexity and concentration, and are highly sought-after by collectors and connoisseurs alike. Its wines, produced in small quantities, have great ageing potential and an unrivalled ability to reflect their terroir.

Lalou Bize-Leroy is also an outstanding taster, known for organizing prestigious tastings, something highly unusual at the time. As early as 1966, to publicize the “treasures” held in the Leroy cellars, she organized tastings at the Domaine d’Auvenay, bringing together the best journalists, critics, sommeliers and top restaurants from all over the world.

Wine is cosmically inspired, it tastes like the stuff of the world

Those who know how to taste never drink wine again, but taste secrets

Domaine Leroy

©️Domaine Leroy