Domain Auvenay Meursault Les Gouttes d Or 1996
The 1996 Domaine d’Auvenay Meursault Les Gouttes d’Or is a white Burgundy from the Premier Cru climat of Les Gouttes d’Or within the Meursault appellation. Made from 100% Chardonnay, it was awarded 94/100 by The Wine Advocate, which suggested a drinking window of 2005 to 2014. The publication describes a deep, concentrated white with a silky texture, underpinned by notes of ripe white fruits, flowers, lemon, toasted nuts, and a mineral backbone.
The bottle offered
- Size
- Bottle (75cl)
- Label Condition
- Perfect
- Fill Level
- Perfect
- Capsule Condition
- Perfect
Wine details
- Couleur
- White
- Pays
- France
- Région
- Bourgogne
- Appellation
- Meursault
- Producteur / Domaine
- Domaine D'Auvenay
- Parcelle / Cru
- Les Gouttes d'Or
- Millésime
- 1996
Cépage et assemblage
- Grape Variety
- 100% Chardonnay
Domaine D'Auvenay
The Domaine d’Auvenay is Lalou Bize-Leroy’s personal estate, situated around her fortified farmhouse in Saint-Romain, on the heights of the Côte de Beaune. Its 3.87-hectare vineyard comprises plots in the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits, planted mainly with Chardonnay, alongside Pinot Noir and Aligoté. The estate is managed using biodynamic methods.
- Owner
- Lalou Bize-Leroy
- Maître de chais
- Lalou Bize-Leroy
- Surface (ha)
- 3.90 ha
- Production (average bottles per vintage)
- 8 000 bouteilles/an
Histoire du domaine
The history of Domaine d’Auvenay is linked to the Leroy family, who have been involved in the Burgundy wine trade since the founding of Maison Leroy in 1868. Lalou Bize-Leroy inherited the Domaine d’Auvenay with her sister upon the death of their father, Henri Leroy, in 1980. She bought out her sister’s share in 1990 and became the sole owner of the estate situated near Saint-Romain. The core of the vineyard consists mainly of family-owned plots in Meursault and Auxey-Duresses. Between 1989 and 1995, Lalou Bize-Leroy gradually expanded the vineyard by acquiring plots in the Côte de Beaune and the Côte de Nuits. These acquisitions included, in particular, plots in Les Folatières in Puligny-Montrachet, in Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet, in Chevalier-Montrachet, in Bonnes-Mares and in Mazis-Chambertin. The winery was refurbished in 1994. Lalou Bize-Leroy personally oversees the running of the estate and the winemaking decisions, continuing the biodynamic practices applied across her estates.
Les Gouttes d'Or
Les Gouttes d'Or is an officially demarcated climat of Meursault that can be accompanied by the Premier Cru designation, with the corresponding cadastral lieu-dit also being Les Gouttes d'Or. It occupies a hillside south of the village, between the sector of Les Bouchères and the communal terroirs located further north. Professional sources describe a stony clay-limestone soil resting on a substrate of Jurassic limestone and marl. Producer plots are reported with orientations ranging from east to south-east, but no homogeneous orientation for the entire climat has been established by any official source consulted.
- Vineyard commune
- Meursault
- Origin of the vineyard name
- A tradition attributes the name to flints whose shape and color are reminiscent of "drops of gold" ("gouttes d'or"); another associates it with the golden hue of ripe wines or grapes.
- Soil
- Stony clay-limestone soil, with clay, marl, and limestone elements.
- Subsoil and geology
- Jurassic limestone base associated with marly and stony limestone levels.
Le domaine dans cette parcelle
- Estate holding in the vineyard (ha)
- 0.190000 ha
- Vineyard holding status
- Owner of a plot of approximately 0.19 ha
Histoire de la parcelle
Les Gouttes d'Or was listed in the second class in the wine classification prepared in 1861 by the Agricultural Committee of the arrondissement of Beaune for the 1862 Universal Exhibition. The Meursault appellation was recognized in 1937, and the climat subsequently appears among those authorized to bear the Premier Cru designation. The current specifications confirm that the entirety of the lieu-dit Les Gouttes d'Or corresponds to the homonymous climat, admitted for red or white wines.
