Lalou Bize-Leroy
Lalou Bize-Leroy is a French businesswoman and winery owner in the Burgundy wine region. Bize-Leroy owns the wineries Domaine d'Auvenay and Domaine Leroy.
Career
Bize-Leroy established herself as a businesswoman in the Burgundy wine business in 1955, when she took over her father Henri Leroy's négociant business. From 1974, she was co-managing the Burgundy winery Domaine [de la Romanée-Conti], one of the world's top wine estates, and was in charge of marketing. Along with Aubert de Villaine, Bize-Leroy helped build DRC's top wine Romanée-Conti into one of the most sought after wines in the world. A series of disagreements, including Bize-Leroy's displeasure at de Villaine's involvement in the Judgment of Paris wine tasting and disputes over Bize-Leroy's handling of the distribution of the Domaine's wines, led to her being ousted in 1992.After leaving DRC, she has focused on her own domains. By 1988, she had acquired significant vineyard holdings for Domaine Leroy. During the 1990s, she established Domaine Leroy as one of the leading Burgundy wineries.