Domaine Leroy Corton Renarders 2013 750ml

Lalou Bize-Leroy farms exactly 50 ares 14 centiares of Renardes, and from the 2013 barrels Neal Martin picked this one out as the quiet wine in her cellar.

Corton-Renardes is the southernmost grand cru in the Leroy portfolio, registered on the domaine's site at 50 a 14 ca. Takashimaya, the house's Japanese importer, places the parcel on the steep east-north-east face of the hill, mid-slope, at the northern edge of Aloxe-Corton, within a climat of 10.62 hectares. A limestone fault cuts across the slope; above it the soil is clay-heavy, below it limestone dominates, and the 2007 listing adds the iron in this ground. The importer's summary of the climat is wild strength and long cellar life.

The domaine was founded in 1988 when Madame Bize-Leroy bought the Charles Noellat vines at Vosne-Romanée and the Philippe-Rémy vines at Gevrey-Chambertin, and from September of that year every row went under biodynamic farming, with no synthetic fertiliser, herbicide or pesticide. Her published rules: a vineyard is never replanted wholesale, only vine by vine from buds of sister vines in the same plot; buds are thinned to hold yields down; the shoot tip is never trimmed. In the cuverie the fruit arrives in small baskets by refrigerated truck, is sorted by eye on two static tables, and ferments as whole bunches in large wooden vats without destemming or crushing, with pigeage and remontage, a slow fermentation and a long maceration. After malolactic the wine is racked by gravity alone and moved to a second, colder cellar until bottling at Vosne-Romanée.

The 2013 was reviewed from barrel. In The Wine Advocate issue 216 (30 December 2014) Neal Martin gave it 89 to 91 points, as quoted by Katsuda, a Tokyo retailer of the official Japanese allocation, and he set its window at 2017 to 2030. The label on our bottle reads Corton-Renardes Grand Cru, Appellation Contrôlée, Mis en bouteille au Domaine, Leroy, with the 2013 vintage on the neck.

In the glass

Martin's barrel note, reproduced by Katsuda, calls the 2013 Corton-Renardes more subdued on the nose than Lalou's other 2013s and a little conservative, with a medium-bodied palate, slightly angular tannins, plenty of freshness, and a red cherry and cassis-tinged finish that feels silky in the mouth, though without the persistence of a great vintage. Takashimaya's climat profile, written for the 2005, describes the Renardes style as untamed and powerful with a long ageing curve.

When to open

Neal Martin's drinking window, as quoted by Katsuda, is 2017 to 2030. Our suggestion: open twelve years on, decant for an hour and serve at 16 degrees.

At the table

Takashimaya's sommelier pairs the domaine's 2005 Renardes with wagyu glazed in soy and mirin; we would do the same here, or roast game birds.

Quick facts

Provenance

Sourced from the Japanese importer.

Sources: Domaine Leroy (official site, 2023 archive); label; Takashimaya (Japanese importer); Katsuda; The Wine Advocate (N. Martin, issue 216)