Leroy, Domaine d’Auvenay… behind these iconic names lies Lalou Bize-Leroy. Her wines were present at auctions in April. Let’s find out what happened!
Last month, leading Burgundy names made a remarkable comeback on iDealwine. The Leroy and Auvenay estates, more discreet at auction in 2024, made a strong comeback, much to the delight of wine lovers. Close to 150 bottles produced by Lalou Bize-Leroy were snapped up by wine enthusiasts at auction (including 122 from Leroy and 22 from Domaine d’Auvenay). In other words, an exceptional volume, given how difficult it is to find wines from these iconic estates, and considering the total volume sold the previous year, which peaked at 133 bottles for Domaine d’Auvenay and 299 for the Leroy wines.
Lalou Bize-Leroy has been reigning over a treasure trove since the early 1970s. She took a wine estate founded in 1868 and helped expand it by acquiring the Noëllat and Philippe Rémy estates in the 1980s in partnership with her Japanese distributor Takashyama. In addition to managing Domaine Leroy, covering just over 22 hectares, this visionary figure and exceptional taster acquired the vines surrounding the farm where she lives to create the tiny Domaine d’Auvenay (3.87 ha), another gem producing highly sought-after wines. After all, Lalou Bize-Leroy is one of the pioneers of biodynamic winemaking in Burgundy, an approach she introduced to her estates in the late 1980s. Her wines, vinified using whole bunches, are renowned for their finesse and distinctive energy. As for their rarity, they are legendary and today, they are sought after the world over.
Corton-Charlemagne, Corton-Renardes, Richebourg, Romanée-Saint-Vivant, Clos de Vougeot, Musigny, Clos de la Roche, Latricières-Chambertin, Chambertin: Domaine Leroy counts no less than nine grands crus in its repertoire, in addition to eight premiers crus and a further eight in the villages appellation. As for Domaine d’Auvenay, while it can pride itself on owning two grands crus in the Côte de Nuits (Mazis Chambertin and Bonnes-Mares), it is primarily renowned for its extraordinary Chardonnays, produced in Meursault, Puligny, Chevalier and Criôts Bâtard Montrachet.
While not all the crus produced by these two estates were represented at auction on iDealwine last month, their rarity led to some spectacular bids, and even significant price hikes, for both red and white wines.
The quintessence of Pinot Noir
Among the Pinot Noirs, prices for most of the grands crus remained stable, especially for those from mature vintages. A 2003 Romanée-Saint-Vivant more than doubled its starting price, reaching €6,385 (+111%). As for Clos Vougeot, a bottle from the 2005 vintage fetched €4,382 (+84%). Meanwhile, the 2000 Richbourg sold for €5,133 (+8%). Only the 2014 Mazis-Chambertin from Domaine d’Auvenay recorded a slight dip (-9%), selling for €7,825. While the grands crus naturally top the leaderboard, the rarity of some bottles rendered them just as desirable. For instance, the ‘simple’ 2004 Chambolle-Musigny from Leroy was auctioned for €5,071 with bidding starting at €1,452. Bidding was fierce, with an Italian bidder coming out on top. Buyers included Europeans (France, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, etc.), as well as Americans and Asians (mainly from Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan).
Domaine Leroy’s 2004 Bourgogne also sparked a bidding frenzy of its own. It started at €150 only for the bottle to be bought by an Italian enthusiast for €3,305. But how can a generic Burgundy wine command such a high price? Well, in 2004, Lalou Bize-Leroy downgraded all her wines. And in fact, her 2004 Bourgogne consists of some very fine terroirs: Clos de Vougeot, Clos de la Roche, Corton-Renardes, Volnay Premier Cru Les Santenots, Savigny Premier Cru Les Narbantons, and Pommard Les Vignots. So discerning wine lovers certainly weren’t mistaken!
Extremely rare Chardonnays by Lalou Bize-Leroy
In the white wine league, the Beaune Grand Cru Corton-Charlemagne took pride of place with the 2004 vintage peaking at €6,385 (+€53) last month. Equally rare and highly sought-after, the 2004 Meursault Premier Cru Les Gouttes d’Or went under the hammer for €4,758 (+10%). Non-classified but from the same appellation, a bottle of 2009 Les Narvaux went under the hammer for €3,881 (a stable price). And the estate’s Puligny-Montrachet wines were equally popular, with a bottle of 2014 Les Enseignères heading for Hong Kong, having sold for €4,132. It’s worth noting that the estate’s finest Chardonnays were particularly popular with Asian connoisseurs, who acquired over a third of bottles available (buyers were from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore), alongside American buyers (10%). Europeans continued to enthusiastically champion the fine white wines produced by the incomparable Lalou Bize-Leroy, getting their hands on 50% of the bottles available.
The difficulties in acquiring Lalou Bize-Leroy’s wines directly from the estates, and their prices when first released, have undoubtedly encouraged fans of Lalou Bize-Leroy to turn to the secondary auction market. And given the worldwide interest in bottles produced by Lalou Bize-Leroy, there’s no doubt that their popularity is unlikely to wane any time soon.
Read the full April wine auctions report on iDealwine
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