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Richebourg 2007 75cl

AOC Grand Cru | Côte de Nuits | Bourgogne | France
Épuisé
Évaluations et Scores
94 Robert Parker
Its forward, succulent sweetness of red raspberry and purple plum fruit accompanied by blond tobacco and smoked meat set Leroy’s 2007 Richebourg apart from its Romanee-St.-Vivant sibling, whose utterly contrasting personality may convey more alluring mystery and complexity, but cannot compete with the sheer sappy concentration and particular energy and exuberance on display. There is a meaty savor, smoky tang, and brightness of berry fruit that truly stains the palate. I expect this is another Leroy wine that will defy its vintage by retaining stamina for two or more decades, and in the process will almost certainly reveal further facets. The results Lalou Bize-Leroy achieved in 2006 – as I wrote in my previous red Burgundy report – were especially notable considering the misgivings she expressed early on about that vintage. She appeared more enthusiastic early on about 2007, but in this instance it’s far from merely notable – frankly, it’s utterly improbable – the richness and complexity that the Leroy team has achieved, especially considering that harvesting began here already on August 27! This collection is quite distinctive even from the very few others of its vintage that come even remotely close in quality. These 2007s display a sense of effortless effusiveness, primary juiciness, and – I don’t know how to put this less nebulously – elegance and in the best instances transparency, contrasting with the impressions of tumescent ripeness, coagulation, and new wood veneer that in some vintages accompany the profound richness of Leroy reds. As usual, the wines were all bottled in December, which at least in this vintage seems less difficult to reconcile with their exceptional quality than it does in vintages like 2005 or 2008, when so many of the other top practitioners of red Burgundy emphasize the need for longer elevage. Extremely low yields are of course also a common denominator among Bize-Leroy’s collections, although in the challenging 2007 vintage, she had somewhat more company than usual among fellow-vignerons in the roughly 20 hectoliter-per-hectare range. (And that was bounteous compared with the 13 hectoliters per hectare Bize-Leroy reports having managed in 2008, a vintage from which she did not want to show her bottled wines until June of this year, so that I shall publish notes on them in my follow-up to the present report.)
Producteur
Domaine Leroy
Confrontée à des difficultés croissantes pour dénicher des cuvées répondant aux exigences du label Maison Leroy, Madame Lalou Bize-Leroy a décidé d’acheter ses propres vignes. D’où la fondation en 1988, du Domaine Leroy, issu de la réunion de plusieurs domaines. Le vignoble actuel s’étend sur une superficie de 21 hectares, situés essentiellement dans des zones classées Grand Cru et Premier Cru. Madame Lalou Bize-Leroy est intimement convaincue que tout est vivant – depuis les sols jusqu’aux raisins, mais aussi l’humanité elle-même. En toute logique, elle a donc d’emblée adopté le principe de la viticulture biodynamique dans ses vignes, par respect du terroir. Cette méthode culturale plutôt controversée auparavant est désormais passée dans les mœurs en tant qu’approche globale axée sur l’inter connectivité existant au niveau de l’environnement. Elle prend également en compte les influences astrologiques et cosmiques. Sans le moindre recours aux engrais, herbicides, insecticides ou pesticides chimiques, les vignes sont entretenues manuellement tout au long de l’année. Les résultats ainsi obtenus par ce producteur soucieux de la qualité sont stupéfiants. Les vins sont extrêmement concentrés tout en étant raffinés et empreints d’une pureté rare, fruit d’un vignoble géré de manière intuitive.