The 1992 Romanee St.-Vivant is the kind of wine that must make Lalou Bize-Leroy's former employer, Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, extremely nervous. This great wine boasts layers of rich red and black fruits, is multidimensional, sweet, expansive, super-concentrated, with a spectacularly long, powerful finish. It is a wine of exceptional depth, harmony, and balance, with moderate tannin. The wine requires 2-3 years of cellaring and should last for 20-25 years.
Millionaire, make that billionaire, collectors who have the opportunity to compare Domaine Leroy's 1990, 1991, and 1992 Romanee St.-Vivant with those of the DRC will understand why Lalou Bize-Leroy is "persona non grata" at Burgundy's most famous estate. I have said it so many times that it may seem redundant, but if you missed it in my 1990 tome, Burgundy, Lalou Bize-Leroy stands virtually alone at the top of Burgundy's quality hierarchy. Because she is a perfectionist, and because she has had the courage to produce wines from low yields and bottle them naturally, without fining or filtration, she has been scorned by many Burgundy negociants, and even by the proprietors of other top domaines. Not only are they jealous, they are frightened of Bize-Leroy because they fear increasing pressure for lower yields and bio-dynamic farming. Anyone who loves great Burgundy, must realize that her wines embarrass much of what is produced in Burgundy.
For the fifth consecutive vintage since she launched her wines from the Domaine Leroy (formerly the Noellat estate), Lalou Bize-Leroy has made the highest percentage of Burgundy's greatest wines. Although not as phenomenally concentrated and extracted as her 1991s and 1990s, the 1992s are more closely aligned to her sumptuous 1989s. (Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate, 23rd Dec 1994, 94 Pts)
