The establishment of Maison Leroy dates back to 1868. At that time, the Leroy family were wine merchants in Auxey-Duresses. Following her father, Henri Leroy, Madame Lalou Bize Leroy took over the management of the company in 1955.
Since its origins, the house has purchased finished wines "after malo" based on samples from brokers. These wines are aged in their cellars and marketed in bottles when they are ready to drink. The oldest vintages, both red and white, date back to the 1970s and 1980s.
With an increasing number of winegrowers bottling their own wines, Maison Leroy sought to secure its supply by acquiring parcels in the most prestigious terroirs of Côte-d'Or. This led to the creation of Domaine Leroy in 1988 by Lalou Bize Leroy. Following her encounter with Nicolas Joly and reading François Bouchet's work, Madame Bize Leroy decided to apply the methods of these biodynamic pioneers to her estate.
Domaine Leroy spans 22.5 hectares, with 10 hectares in the Côte de Beaune and the remainder in the Côte de Nuits. Its flagship parcels include Chambertin, Musigny, Romanée-Saint-Vivant, Vosne-Romanée 1er cru "Les Beaux Monts," Vosne-Romanée "Genaivrières," as well as Pommard "Les Vignots," Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er cru "Les Narbantons," a parcel of Auxey-Duresses white, and Corton-Charlemagne. The domain, managed by 10 permanent staff, employs 30 to 40 people during harvest season.
The Guyot simple pruning is extremely short. The yields obtained do not exceed 20 hl/ha, which corresponds to five grape clusters per vine stock. "Our canes resemble spurs of 5 to 10 cm, on a long-pruned vine stock," explains Gilles Desprez, the export director. These low yields result in earlier ripening grapes. No vines have been topped since 2000 to avoid cutting the plant's apex. The foliage is instead rolled up.
The vinification of red wines—carried out with 100% whole clusters—begins with a few days of cold maceration. A small amount of SO₂ is used when loading the vats. Punch-downs are traditionally performed by foot. The wines are aged 100% in new barrels (light toast) for 12 to 15 months, exceptionally 18 months. After the completion of malolactic fermentation, a small amount of SO₂ is added, as well as at bottling. For both red and white wines, the total SO₂ is around 40 mg/l. The wines are not filtered and are offered for sale approximately 4 to 5 years after bottling.
For wines from the domain, labels specify "propriétaires à Vosne-Romanée," while for négociant wines, they state "négociants à Auxey-Duresses." Domain wine bottles have waxed necks and are housed in heavier, "Burgundian" type bottles.