Domaine d'Auvenay
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D'Auvenay may need no introduction, but it also may need a whole history lesson. Run out of the personal cellars of Lalou Bize-Leroy, the Domaine is almost a garagiste - tiny, tiny production sought the world over as their elegance and pedigree exceed that of any other.
Leroy's husband Marcel ran the Domaine until his death in 2004, at which point Lalou took the full reins. Her 3.9 hectares of land pale in comparison to the Domaine Leroy's holdings, but they are tended with the utmost care, following biodynamic principles as strictly as her Domaine. The vineyards are spread over 16 different appellations, including the Grand Crus Chevalier-Montrachet, Criots-Batard-Montrachet and Batard-Montrachet, though perhaps the legend of the estate is the Aligoté as Leroy was the first to champion the grape's ability to create world-class wines.
In the vineyard, the work is tireless; each vine tended to individually to assess its health, at harvest the clusters are hand-clipped and re-sized, removing any grape that is less than perfect. Before fermentations the incredibly labor-intensive process of baie-par-baie is commenced, where the grapes are hand-clipped from the cluster, preserving the pedicel; this will provide an essence of whole-cluster fermentations without any off-putting green aromas or altering the pH drastically. Every wine is fermented in personally-selected, new Francois Freres casks, aged on their lees and racked once midway through the elevage.
Plots are extremely small and production of the individual wines ranges from 300-3000 bottles per vintage, further proving these to be among the rarest, most special wines in the world.
