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Why Did Lalou Bize-Leroy, Already Co-Manager of Romanée-Conti, Choose to Build a Vineyard of Her Own? — Maison Leroy

Burgundy, Through One Map

Why Did Lalou Bize-Leroy, Already Co-Manager of Romanée-Conti, Choose to Build a Vineyard of Her Own? — Maison Leroy

Watercolour panorama of Auxey-Duresses, the small valley village where Lalou Bize-Leroy built her own domaine

In the village of Vosne-Romanée stood vineyards that the Noëllat family (Charles Noëllat) had cultivated for generations. When the head of the family passed away in 1987, the land was divided among the heirs, and many of the plots were about to be given up. In 1988, it was a woman named Lalou Bize-Leroy who bought up the majority of the remaining parcels.

At the time, she was already co-manager of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC), a position she had held since 1974. The Leroy family had also been co-owners of this estate since her father’s generation. For many years, Maison Leroy had also handled the sale of DRC’s wines around the world. Why would someone who already held such a position choose to build a vineyard of her own, from the ground up, all over again? The thread that leads to an answer runs back to a family trading house that began in the nineteenth century, in Auxey-Duresses.

ItemDetails
Maison / DomaineMaison Leroy (négociant) / Domaine Leroy (estate with its own vineyards)
Founding locationAuxey-Duresses (Côte de Beaune)
Domaine’s baseVosne-Romanée (Côte de Nuits)
Milestone years1868 (Maison Leroy founded, by most accounts) / 1942 (Leroy family becomes DRC co-owner, by most accounts) / 1974 (Lalou Bize-Leroy becomes DRC co-manager) / 1988 (Domaine Leroy founded; Takashimaya takes a capital stake) / 1991 (steps down as DRC co-manager, per the domaine’s official record; some sources give 1992)
FarmingBiodynamic farming from 1988

Maison Leroy and Romanée-Conti

Maison Leroy is said to have been founded in 1868 by François Leroy in Auxey-Duresses, as a négociant (wine trading house). It began as a business of buying wine from vineyards across the Côte d’Or, raising it, and selling it on. In the twentieth century, the house’s connection to Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) began. In 1942, the Leroy family became co-owners of DRC, by most accounts. From then on, Maison Leroy also took on the role of selling DRC’s wines around the world for many years, holding on to both ownership and sales roles for decades.

A Woman Who Joined the Family Business

Born into this family, Lalou Bize-Leroy joined the management of Maison Leroy while still young. In 1974, she took over from her father, Henri Leroy, as co-manager of DRC. The two roles the Leroy family had built up — the négociant trade, and the co-management of DRC — now rested with her alone.

1988: A Vineyard in Her Own Name

In 1988, she acquired vineyards in Vosne-Romanée and established a domaine in her own name, Domaine Leroy. Its foundation is said to have been the vineyards long cultivated by the Noëllat family (Charles Noëllat). In the 1980s, that family’s holdings had been divided up over an inheritance, and the majority of the remaining parcels passed into her hands that year.

That same year, 1988, capital from Japan helped support the move. Takashimaya’s own announcements state that the company entered into a capital partnership with the Leroy company, and that this helped support the founding of Domaine Leroy. Japanese department-store capital had become part of the acquisition of a vineyard in a corner of rural France.

A Choice for Biodynamics, and 1992

Once she had the land, she made a major change to how it was farmed. The story goes that it began with a newspaper article reporting on the work of the biodynamic practitioner Nicolas Joly. She then took advice from François Bouchet, a leading figure in biodynamic viticulture, and converted the vineyards of Domaine Leroy to biodynamic farming — a method, still uncommon in Burgundy at the time, that avoids synthetic pesticides and fertilizers and times vineyard work to the movements of the moon and stars. As for yields, she is said to have chosen a policy of deliberately limiting the number of bunches on the vine.

She became co-manager of DRC in 1974. As for when she stepped down, the domaine’s own official record gives 1991, while a number of other sources give 1992. The Leroy family’s continued shareholding in DRC and her own departure from its management are separate matters. From then on, she devoted herself to the farming and management of her own domaine.

Three Facts Worth Knowing

  • Maison Leroy is said to be a wine trading house founded in Auxey-Duresses in 1868. In 1942, the Leroy family became co-owners of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC), by most accounts, and for many years also handled the sale of its wines around the world.
  • In 1988, Lalou Bize-Leroy acquired vineyards in Vosne-Romanée and established a domaine in her own name, Domaine Leroy. That same year, Japan’s Takashimaya took a capital stake in the Leroy company — Japanese capital had a hand in the making of a vineyard in France.
  • She became DRC’s co-manager in 1974; the domaine’s official record gives 1991 as the year she stepped down, though some sources give 1992. At her own domaine, she adopted biodynamic farming from 1988 and is said to have chosen a policy of deliberately limiting yields.

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