How does Leroy do it?

[dcornutt]

Like crack. You have to stay away from this stuff.

[Brad_England]

@Roger Nellans

@B. Buzzini

Still waiting to have my first Leroy…my friends suck! …

Hey Buzz, Jon will help you out on that

Who is this Jon of which you speak?

[dr0ch]

Best bottle of red burg I’ve ever had was a 1993 d’Auvenay Bonnes Mares…just insane.

[Rob_Hansult]

@R.Oesterle

work and work
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkWuuAJZ80Y(french)

Don’t necessarily agree with what they’re doing in the Vineyard (tying-wise, with the super-long shoots), but don’t speak French either.

Hard to gainsay anything Bize-Leroy is doing re: the quality of the wines . . . but . . . how much is BD helping?

I don’t think much (other than imperceptibly, soil-wise), & it certainly can be argued viticulturally . . .

BD = religion. Nothing less; not much more.

That being said, I’ll repeat what I wrote before >

Extremely low yields + great terroir + immaculate attention to detail, usually = spectacular results in bottle.

That doesn’t mean improvement is not possible.

The French have learned a Ton from Cali, & Aussi viticultural research (even though they’ll never admit it). Some could be applicable here.

Obviously, I’m arguing something close to perfection . . . but don’t the prices already warrant perfection . . . ?

Full disclosure: More of a Syrah/Merlot guy, & not a huge fan of the globally (on average) under-performing PN . . . & also haven’t had the privilege of drinking/sharing one of her wines . . . yet.

2nd pile-on goes here >>>

[Roger_Nellans]

@Brad England

@Roger Nellans

@B. Buzzini

Still waiting to have my first Leroy…my friends suck! …

Hey Buzz, Jon will help you out on that

Who is this Jon of which you speak?

You know Brad…the same Jon that will be with me invading your cellar next month

[Jonathan_Favre]

Hey Buzz, Jon will help you out on that [/quote]

Who is this Jon of which you speak?[/quote]

You know Brad…the same Jon that will be with me invading your cellar next month [/quote]

Haaaaaaa. Buzz - you just have to ask - let me know! See you in SanFran Buzz.

[Tom_Blach]

@Charlie Fu

@ryancurry

I’m with you on the aromatics. I drink with a guy that almost exclusively cellars leroy. They are always super expressive and generous aromatically. My only knock on them is that a lot of the wines smell the same to me. Drinking them side by side, sometime the terroir is apparent, and sometimes they smell so so similar. That said, they are delicious wines!

Agreed. They smell similar but similarly fantastic! Although I wish I drank a lot with a guy with a deep Leroy cellar

I think it’s a stem issue, as it at least used to be at Dujac. For some reason I have not found this at all at the DRC. To me it renders many Leroys positively undrinkable, particularly with a bit of age, which saves me a bit of money, I guess!

[Peter_Chiu]

@Tom Blach

@Charlie Fu

@ryancurry

I’m with you on the aromatics. I drink with a guy that almost exclusively cellars leroy. They are always super expressive and generous aromatically. My only knock on them is that a lot of the wines smell the same to me. Drinking them side by side, sometime the terroir is apparent, and sometimes they smell so so similar. That said, they are delicious wines!

Agreed. They smell similar but similarly fantastic! Although I wish I drank a lot with a guy with a deep Leroy cellar

I think it’s a stem issue, as it at least used to be at Dujac. For some reason I have not found this at all at the DRC. To me it renders many Leroys positively undrinkable, particularly with a bit of age, which saves me a bit of money, I guess!

For some reason I have not found this at all at the DRC.

Merci…Tom - very interesting comment and obsevation .

I used to buy Leroy but no more ( or due to availability ) and it is OK.

[k_s_h_i_n]

Considering their aggressive pricing, they should be at least at this level. As others stated, DRCs shows terroir where Leroy shows the strong producer signature. I was dining with a couple friends in Bordeaux and the topic of DRC vs Leroy came up, DRC leaves very little reserve and releases at the price that is beyond fair (e.g. VR 1er to the restaurant is around 50 euros, Leroy releases very small quantity and charges an arm and a leg.

[Frank_Drew]

Kevin,

Interesting, about the high pricing at the source; I know we have very high prices here in the States for Leroy domaine wines, but I didn’t know if that was mostly due to importer markups. I think 1991 was their last “affordable” vintage; the Nuits Boudots was around $95 on release and was one of the best red Burgundies I’ve ever had ( opened maybe five years ago).

[Barry_P]

In terms of US pricing, Leroy grand crus usually come in at $900 (irrespective as to whether it is Clos Vougeot or Musigny), which is about at what DRC’s Rich and RSV come in at (both about $950) but below La Tache ($1100) and RC ($3000). Her premier crus, though, come in a good deal higher (around $500) than DRC’s Ech and Grands Ech.

The one thing to remember about Leroy, however, is that her production is miniscule compared to DRC. Her grand crus are typically in the 125 case production range, more for Clos Vougeot and least for Musigny. DRC is way above that. Their smallest production is RC at 500 cases. And if you want to compare whites, the ultra-rare Le Montrachet from DRC (250 cases) is downright common when compared to the case production of D’Auvenay’s Chevy or B. Batard (about 60 cases).

[Ian_Dorin]

@Frank Drew

Kevin,

Interesting, about the high pricing at the source; I know we have very high prices here in the States for Leroy domaine wines, but I didn’t know if that was mostly due to importer markups. I think 1991 was their last “affordable” vintage; the Nuits Boudots was around $95 on release and was one of the best red Burgundies I’ve ever had ( opened maybe five years ago).

The pricing structure comes from the Domaine. I hate to think what the 2010s will cost!

[Berry_Crawford]

@L e o F r o k i c

@Robert.Fleming

Not a knock on Leroy - far from it - but I find the Dujac portfolio to be more aromatically thriiling across the board.

So I would be interested in thoughts on the more general question: How do some producers consistently make wines that are more aromatically compelling than their peers?

A lot has to do with the Maceration and Fermentation techniques. If you do pre-fermentation cold soak and ferment your wine at the lower/colder temperatures your wine will show more aromatics and that “feminent” Pinot character. Higher fermentation temperatures will extract more from the grapes thus aromatics might be “hiden”

This is a great answer

[Stuart_BeauneHead_Niemtzow]

Assuming it is accurate…and many producers, like Charles Rousseau did, said they weren’t trying to make jam, so they kept the temps lower than nature might lead to, this is a good response.

And, Tom, what is your point about the stems? Presumably they leave them in, or so I deduce (I have little interest in…and less experience with…Leroy wines). So…what does it to to promote these early aromatics? I sense that the stems shine through , to you , as they age, though???

[Tom_Blach]

Stuart,the stems shine through when young too but they smell ok. As they age they start to smell of silage and dried herbs which to me is not so nice and completely obliterates any notion of terroir-but I think I’m very sensitive to this, and my sample size is not enormous.

[Stuart_BeauneHead_Niemtzow]

Are you suggesting that the stems, early on, promote this extreme aromatic quality that is the subject of this thread? Maybe that’s what I’m missing. Does it promote that at first and then turn into a flaw/signature down the hill…I mean road.

[John_Tan]

@Kevin Shin

Considering their aggressive pricing, they should be at least at this level. As others stated, DRCs shows terroir where Leroy shows the strong producer signature. I was dining with a couple friends in Bordeaux and the topic of DRC vs Leroy came up, DRC leaves very little reserve and releases at the price that is beyond fair (e.g. VR 1er to the restaurant is around 50 euros, Leroy releases very small quantity and charges an arm and a leg.

That does seem to be the common “mantra” (i.e. Leroy shows strong producer signatures) and am still biased in that direction HOWEVER… We did a side by side tasting of Charles Noellat with Domaine Leroy wines not too long ago. The resemblance was more than passing - if anything Madame Leroy has amplified the traits them.

So this stopped me in my tracks - learned to drop all biases, preconceptions, prejudices…

[John_Tan]

@Stuart BeauneHead Niemtzow

Are you suggesting that the stems, early on, promote this extreme aromatic quality that is the subject of this thread? Maybe that’s what I’m missing. Does it promote that at first and then turn into a flaw/signature down the hill…I mean road.

Yeah all that DRC must really suck after 20 years

[Ian_Dorin]

@Stuart BeauneHead Niemtzow

Are you suggesting that the stems, early on, promote this extreme aromatic quality that is the subject of this thread? Maybe that’s what I’m missing. Does it promote that at first and then turn into a flaw/signature down the hill…I mean road.

I’m not trying to imply Tom is making stuff up, but I’ve never encountered a “stemmy quality” in their youth aside from some clunky/funky bottles of 2004 Bourgogne Rouge and 2004 Vosne Romanee. These were someone’s bottles bought grey market though, and none of the ones I owned tasted like that, which came through the local importer Lauber (at the time). The 2004 I have opened from my own stock were sweet and vibrant, and showed off more heavy earth components like soy and tar, which I attest to the addition of serious Grand Cru wine to these.

[Stuart_BeauneHead_Niemtzow]

no comment on the 2004, Ian…but…if you weren’t having a problem…it raises some questions.

is that Boomer in your photo? or who?