96
score
Robert Parker
August 31, 1995
The Nuits St.-Georges Les Vignes Rondes is dazzling. Remarkably, the yields for this vineyard were 6 hectoliters per hectare, which is commercial madness. The result is a black/purple-colored, behemoth, crammed with sweet black fruits intermingled with scents of Asian spices, coffee, and licorice. Extremely powerful and dense, with full body, unbelievable concentration and purity, this is a wine making tour de force. It should be at its best in 5-10 years and last for 20+. When I traveled through Burgundy, it appeared Lalou Bize-Leroy may have as many critics as I do. Some producers accuse her of adding "Alicante" to her wines because she obtains such a deep color. Others claim she is hiding hundreds of cases of grand crus in another cellar since her yields cannot "possibly be so low." Of course all of this is nonsense, not to mention appallingly jealous behavior from producers who are scared to death that other growers might decide to follow in Lalou's footsteps. For now, Bize-Leroy stands at the top of the Burgundy pyramid, alone both literally and figuratively in her pursuit of the finest Burgundy can produce. I will keep my tasting notes brief, recognizing that in this situation it is almost criminal to try and describe wines that may be the greatest red Burgundies I will taste in my life. As even the immodest Lalou Bize-Leroy says, these wines are "an accident of nature." Tasting them, with their extraordinary ripeness, unctuosity, and opulence, with no hard tannin to be found, makes one think that 1993 was a completely different vintage for Domaine Leroy than it was for other Burgundians. Yes, Mama, low yields do translate into physiologically ripe fruit, concentrated wines, and exquisite quality. It goes without saying that everything in this cellar was aged in 100% new French oak (you cannot detect any oak in the wines because of their concentration), and bottled without fining or filtration - as usual.
No, Cindy Crawford wasn't sitting on my lap as I was tasting through Leroy's 1993s, nor was I under the influence of either the effusive and persuasive Lalou Bize-Leroy or any chemical substance. My notes are mostly of academic interest since the quantities of wine produced at Domaine Leroy in 1993 are so preposterously low that only cases of certain wines are available. Bize-Leroy's biodynamic farming methods, which do not permit any type of spraying, resulted in yields ranging from as low as 5-6 hectoliters per hectare (about 1/3 ton per acre) to a whopping 1/2 ton per acre. Not one of her vineyards produced as much as one ton of fruit per acre (30 hectoliters per hectare). The microscopic quantities produced of some wines have not only ensured prices that only billionaires can afford, but have also made it virtually impossible to find the wines. For example, consider the total production - for the world - of the following wines: Chambertin (75 cases), Musigny (75 cases), Latricieres (25 cases), Clos de la Roche (50 cases), Gevrey-Chambertin Les Combottes (50 cases), Richebourg (100 cases), Romanee St.-Vivant (75 cases).
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