Leroy

Maison Leroy is a négociant house founded in 1868 by François Leroy in Auxey-Duresses, a village close to Meursault in the Côte de Beaune. It began as a business that bought, aged and sold fine Burgundy, and it built ties with the well-placed growers of its day.

The family line runs through François Leroy's son Joseph and then Joseph's son Henri, who took over in 1919. Joseph traded closely with Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. In 1942 he bought Jacques Chambon's share of that domaine.

Lalou Bize-Leroy took control of the négociant business in 1955, at the age of 23. She was co-director of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti from 1974 until 1992, when she resigned. Her daughter Perrine Fenal succeeded her there.

In 1988 she formed Domaine Leroy, buying the holdings of Domaine Charles Noëllat and Domaine Philippe Rémy with Japanese partners. Domaine Leroy covers 22 hectares and focuses on red wine. She also owns Domaine d'Auvenay outright, with holdings in Auxey-Duresses, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Chambolle-Musigny and Gevrey-Chambertin. Both domaines have been farmed organically and biodynamically from the start, among the first in Burgundy to do so.

The négociant side works differently from the domaines. It selects wines from growers and bottles them under the Leroy label, next to wines from the family's own domaine. Releases are held back until the wines are ready to drink.

Savigny-lès-Beaune is a village appellation of the Côte de Beaune, and the wine is bottled under the Maison Leroy label.