"The utterly profound 2015 Musigny Grand Cru from Domaine Leroy, the crowning achievement to an extraordinary portfolio and a wine that brought tears to my eyes"
The Wine
Domaine Leroy, Musigny Grand Cru 2015
3x75cl in OWC - POA
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The Cepage
Pinot Noir (100%)
The Producer
From the Dame of Burgundy, Lalou Bize-Leroy’s extraordinary Domaine, both qualitatively and in value terms for the wines produced. Domaine Leroy tops the Burgundy and Pinot Noir leagues, and arguably the wine world, producing transcendental, highly collectable and utterly unique wines.
Read more in our Producer Focus.
The Vineyard
Musigny Grand Cru, Chambolle-Musigny
Vineyard Size: 10.67 hectares
Aspect: South-east
Soils: Chalky, stoney with some clay
(Le) Musigny is rightly revered as one the greatest vineyards - and arguably the ultimate terroir - in Burgundy. And it is unquestionably the finest of numerous, great lieux-dits in Chambolle-Musigny. Classified as Grand Cru in 1936, today there are nine plot owners, with Domaine Comtes Georges de Vogué (2.92 hectares) and Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier (1.34 hectares) by far the largest owners, holding roughly 40% of the vineyard area between them.
Domaine Leroy’s Musigny Plot
Plot size: 0.27 hectares (split across four plots)
Yield: 18-25 hectolitres/hectare
Bottles produced: 480-675 (roughly 1.5-2 barrels)
Bize-Leroy’s plots are comprised of two in the northern section of Le Musigny and two in the southerly part of the vineyard. The southerly plots were bought from Daniel Moine-Hudelot (the former Mayor of Beaune) in 1990, with the northerly plots acquired before the inception of Domaine Leroy in 1988.
Per all Domaine Leroy plots, Lalou’s preference is to avoid any pruning in the growing season, instead opting to tie and braid the top of the vines. The theory behind this is the vine’s energy is focused on the top of the vines, rather than the fruit, resulting in smaller, concentrated grapes. Additionally, with modern-day, high to occasionally extreme summer temperatures, it offers some shading to the fruit, beneficial to the avoidance of potentially sunburnt grapes. Likewise, there is some belief that limited pruning negates unwanted vine stress. This practice, of which Lalou is one of the pioneers, is now used by (a small number of) other, quality-focused growers throughout Burgundy.
Domaine Leroy practices fully biodynamic viticulture throughout their vineyards.
The Vintage
2015 is widely considered one of the greatest vintages ever for Pinot Noir throughout the Côte-d’Or. Perhaps (or probably), as the wines develop in bottle, the terminology will change to “legendary”.
As one of the first recognisable ‘global warming’ vintages, concentrated, often opulent, but by no means excessive nor unbalanced wines were the norm in 2015, with clean, healthy fruit throughout the Côte. The best wines – of which there are many – have ample, juicy character, significant structure, superb acidity and many decades of ageing potential.
Elevated temperature was the theme during much of the summer, after faultless, early flowering and fruit set in mild temperatures. June and July saw serious heat well into the nights. Resultantly, many vines dropped grapes (reducing yields) with the fruit that was left being small and concentrated. Perhaps positively, to negate over-ripeness, many vines shut down at this stage, slowing ripening. August saw cooler temperatures, fresh breezes, intermittent cloud cover and some much-needed rain showers, allowing the ripening process to conclude slowly, while allowing aromatics to develop and, crucially, preserve acidity.
The dry heat of much of the summer and limited rainfall resulted in minimal disease pressure and clean, healthy grapes arriving on every sorting table (with the exception of those who harvested too late, with some raisined fruit. And, unquestionably, the occurrence of some sunburnt grapes).
Quite simply, the 2015 vintage is extraordinary.
The Provenance
This case has been stored professionally since release from the Domaine in 2018 and has never left Europe.
any wine purchased from Provinance is fully insured at your purchase value, securely packaged for shipping, and transported only by trusted, professional partners
What The Critics Say
The Wine Advocate
100/100 points “The utterly profound 2015 Musigny Grand Cru from Domaine Leroy, the crowning achievement to an extraordinary portfolio and a wine that brought tears to my eyes, wafts from the glass with a deep bouquet of black raspberry, cherry, rose petal and spice. On the palate, the wine is bottomless and multidimensional, with satiny tannins and fruit of crystalline purity, so utterly harmonious and structurally complete as to border on the ineffable—and certainly to exhaust any tired superlatives. The finish is incredibly penetrating and persistent. Drink 2028-2070”
Burghound
98/100 points “Lalou Bize-Leroy was away at the time of my visit and thus I don't have the benefit of her reflections on the 2015 vintage. I was greeted instead by Gilles Desprez who ably conducted the tasting. He didn't have a lot of details but did note that fruit was harvested between the 2nd and 8th of September and that the wines were bottled in December 2016. As the commentaries and ratings indisputably confirm, Mme Leroy has produced superb wines that without question transcend the general quality of the vintage. What I particularly like about the Leroy 2015s is that they reflect the high ripeness level of the vintage while maintaining excellent freshness and verve, something that is not always the case. Drink 2040+”