Leroy Grand Cru 1955-2003 with Lalou Bize-Leroy and Christie's

Christie's sponsored an opportunity to taste wines directly from the well stocked Leroy cellars with Corton, Chambertin and RSV from various vintages 1955 through 2003. Mme. Leroy was there to discuss the wines (to some extent) and answer questions (not really). Anthony Hanson of Christie's did a great job translating and leading the tasting and discussion.

• 1955 Maison Leroy Corton 96 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru

  From Leroy's cellar. Medium reddish brown color. Incredibly lively fruit on nose for a 50+ year old. Red cherry with spice. Sous bois is beautifully framed by the fruit and wine's remaining structure. Lots of spice and mushroom on the finish, but the amazing surprise is the cherry flavor reemerging. Great, great length.

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• 1959 Maison Leroy Corton 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru

  From Leroy's cellar. Dark color and powerful fruit on both the nose and palate, combined with lots of forest floor but only moderate spice. Good mineraility and lots of structure, not nearly the elegance and charm of the 1955 in the next glass.

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• 1961 Maison Leroy Corton 86 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru

  From Leroy's cellar. Pale color, pale red fruit on both nose and palate. Fruit is mostly simple and slightly tart. Showing more acidity than fruit or earthy charm. Drink up.

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• 1993 Domaine Leroy Corton-Renardes 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru

  From Leroy cellars. Very surprising medium-light color. Fruit was also far more pale red than I expected from this vintage or this wine, given its reputation. Very good spice but the fruit just never really emerged in a really meaningful way. Lots of tannins and acidity. I'd hold onto this for at least another decade+ for evolved charm and elegance to emerge. Or I'd open another bottle very soon if these couple of bottles were imperfect.

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• 1999 Domaine Leroy Corton-Renardes 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru

  From Leroy cellars. Powerful nose of dense, dark fruit with massive spice and black fruit. Deep intense flavors with layers and layers of flavors, some of which were still a bit muted behind the wine's huge tannic structure. Really incredible length, already showing great spice on that finish. I have no doubt this will turn into an amazing wine, but probably not for another decade or more.

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• 2003 Domaine Leroy Corton-Renardes 89 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru

  From Leroy's cellar. Very ripe fruit on nose and palate with massive tannins. Intense level of red and black fruit. This was not particularly charming tonight, I'm curious to see where it goes over the next few decades given lower levels of acidity and an unusual balance for Grand Cru Burgundy.

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If I'm not mistaken, Leroy pre-Domaine Chambertin was sourced from the Dugat family - the plot that today produced the Dugat-Py Chambertin. Flight had two amazing, amazing, amazing wines.

• 1955 Maison Leroy Chambertin 96 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru

  From Leroy's cellar. Starts with nose of gorgeous muscular fruit and spice to spare. Fresh black cherry flavors made you think the wine wasn't 50+ years old, but then amazing earthy character emerged that showed this was an amazingly preserved older wine. It's hard to describe because this wine has great fruit density, even if not freshly primary, but also great secondary development. For a little while I was asking myself if this was the best Chambertin I've ever had...but that lasted less than 5 minutes when I tasted the 1961 two glasses over.

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• 1959 Maison Leroy Chambertin 89 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru

  From Leroy's cellar. Lots of bricking. Nicely perfumed nose but lighter, less ripe and less muscular than I'd expect. Some red fruit is still loitering in the background but aromas and flavors are dominated by sous bois and some spice. Also an interesting gamey character comes through near the end. Lots of energy and acidity looking for something more interesting to support, I think this wine has seen better days. At least one other bottle that night showed exactly the same.

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• 1961 Maison Leroy Chambertin 97 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru

  From Leroy's cellars. This is a bottle open at the perfect place in its long life. Absolutely sensational nose showed great florals (violet), wonderful meaty spice and great sous bois. Much like the nose, flavors balance primary and secondary character perfectly, framed with lots of spice and tannic structure. Mostly red fruit with some nice black fruit as well in the background. Long, long finish really shows off this wine's spice. Everybody at my table adored this wine.

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• 1993 Domaine Leroy Chambertin 87 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru

  From Leroy's cellar. I know there have been concerns and variation regarding some Leroy 1993 wines, and this was a tough wine to appreciate. We wondered briefly if it was flawed, but no obvious flaw was detectable. Nose showed dense, black fruit with a limited degree of subtlety. Palate showed the same fruit, seemingly unripe and dominated by tannins. Best part was the finish which was 100% Chambertin, showcasing power and balanced fruit.

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• 1999 Domaine Leroy Chambertin 97 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru

  From Leroy's cellar. Nose starts with sensational dark spice that goes from start to finish. Black cherry and blackberry also on nose, then continuing onto the palate. Flavors unfold in several layers, with lovely red fruit starting to emerge on the finish. Ends with great fruit, spice and power, all lingering in your mouth for an amazingly long finish. For today i would have to say the Leroy 1961 Chambertin was WOTN, but this 1999 may become the top wine from tonight's lineup.

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• 2003 Domaine Leroy Chambertin 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru

  From Leroy's cellar. Nose starts with massive, sexy spice and black cherry and some cherry liqueur. Fruits evolve into something more charming on the palate, starting to show red cherry along with the black cherry. Lots of tannins, not quite as much acidity, but lively fruit and spice kept dominating the palate. Really amazing solid extract makes me think this has very exciting long-term potential.

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• 1992 Domaine Leroy Romanée St. Vivant 81 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru

  From Leroy's cellar. Pale fruit on both the nose and palate. Didn't show much RSV spice to anybody. Moderate finish without a much charm or character.

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• 1993 Domaine Leroy Romanée St. Vivant 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru

  From Leroy's cellar. Unlike the other Leroy 1993s tonight, this wowed us all. Sensational floral nose with great spice couldn't be mistaken for anything other the great RSV. Palate showed amazing strawberry and red cherry, also with massive spice. Flavors keep unfolding and changing in better and better ways. Long, charming finish with red fruit and great spice.

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• 1996 Domaine Leroy Romanée St. Vivant 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru

  From Leroy's cellar. Bright red fruit and Asian spice on the nose. Lots of licorice, clove and even some cinnamon. Fruit didn't come through as balanced on the palate, with lots of red fruit hidden behind lots of tannins and acidity for now. Lots of acidity throws off the wine's balance today as well. Give this at least another decade and this might really impress much more than it did tonight.

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• 1999 Domaine Leroy Romanée St. Vivant 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru

  From Leroy's cellar. Great dark fruit and spice on the nose. Much like the 1996, this was possibly shut down a bit tonight. Fruit came across as somewhat hidden behind both this wine's tannins and acidity. Every component seems superb, but not in balance yet tonight. Same on the finish, which also didn't show the depth I hoped for or expected.

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• 2003 Domaine Leroy Romanée St. Vivant 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru

  From Leroy's cellar. No surprise that this is completely primary. But the wine already shows great polish and finesse. Nice combination of red cherry and black cherry on both nose and palate. Rich spice comes through particularly in the very first taste. Fruit shows great intensity supported by lovely sweet tannins. Great fruit on the finish, which might have been even more intense and exciting with a bit more vibrancy and acidity.

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As Mme. Leroy told us tonight, the wines speak for themselves. And they speak rather eloquently.