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Wine Description
The Story
The wines of Domaine Leroy are among the most elegant, collectable, and rare wines in the Cote d’Or and entire world. Madame Lalou Bize-Leroy is the driving force behind the Leroy empire. She inherited the successful, terroir expressive winery in 1971 from her father, and has developed a reputation as the first important female leader in Burgundy. The intense quality focused crops only yield a quarter of the fruit compared to other vineyards in Burgundy. The wines are not exposed to the fining, filtering or filtration process, further accentuating their relentless pursuit of perfection. The philosophy and practices of biodynamic have been fully implemented since 1989. Domaine Leroy is argued to make one of the finest and brilliantly elegant red Burgundies available.
Vintage 1996
1996 VINTAGE in Burgundy
Maturity levels were in general high following a long hot summer. The wines from the famous Pinot Noir have an intense ruby red colour with lush red fruit aromas. They are wines that are comparable with the outstanding 88s and 89s. The whites are just as outstanding full-bodied with elegant vibrant Chardonnay fruit and sweet white flower and grilled nut aromas. These are wines that have the potential to age magnificently.
Each harvest we hope for three things, favorable weather conditions, healthy grape clusters and high sugar levels. The 1996 harvest provided all of these. April was particularly sunny and brought about an early bud burst (18th of April). Following this we had what can be described as a flash flowering which leads to good pollination, creating high yields.
Arean had low rainfall levels, a sturdy breeze (which kept rot to a minimum) and a long ripening period. These factors created high sugar levels and good acidity within the grapes. Cloud cover in August, combined with the coldest September on record meant that the sugar levels were exceptionally high and so was the acidity: 12% potential alcohol with 5.5g of acidity for Corton Reds and 13%-14% potential alcohol with 6g of acidity for Corton Charlemagne.
As a result, most are very pleased with the 1996 vintage. The reds have an intense color, good tannin structure and concentrated Pinot Noir flavor. The white wines are also impressive, containing plenty of rich fruit character, a crisp acidity and are already showing an attractive bouquet.