Why Does Jay Chou Love Domaine Leroy Wine?

On 14 July 2022, after much anticipation, Jay Chou released his 15th studio album, 6 years after his previous album.
From 2000 onward, Jay Chou released almost one album every year. After 2010, his release schedule slowed, and marriage brought him the happy life of a prince and princess.

We may not know how other princes and princesses live, but Jay Chou certainly enjoys fine wine—and some very expensive bottles.

He went from pop prince to the “Domaine Leroy Prince”—a title he gave himself.
Some people asked, “What is Leroy—is it a kind of birch tree?”
Others said, “That much for one bottle? It looks fairly ordinary to me.”
Still others asked, “Isn't it expensive only because Jay Chou drinks it? Would it command that price otherwise?”
Domaine Leroy is led by Lalou Bize-Leroy, a celebrated Burgundy heiress who has often been portrayed as the region's grand princess.

Her father was the 3rd-generation head of Maison Leroy and was also known as a ‘prince of Cognac’. He owned a brandy distillery in Cognac and built a thriving business there.
In 1942, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti sold equity to address a funding shortfall. Lalou Bize-Leroy's father acquired a 55% stake in the Domaine.
After her father died, Lalou Bize-Leroy and her sister formally inherited his stake in Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.
In plain terms, Lalou Bize-Leroy was also one of the people at the helm of Romanée-Conti. By then, Lalou had become known as Burgundy's queen, with few perceived rivals.
Although many envied her privileged upbringing, her life also brought dramatic highs and lows.

In 1974, she and fellow shareholder Aubert de Villaine became co-directors of the Domaine and helped establish Romanée-Conti as one of the world's leading estates.
The two frequently disagreed, however. Differences over major decisions ultimately led Aubert and her own sister to remove her from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti's management.
She had taken over her father's business in her twenties and worked tirelessly to raise Romanée-Conti to its celebrated status, only to be forced out at the age of 60.
The combined sense of betrayal by a business partner and a family member took a heavy emotional and physical toll.
Her husband was the person who comforted her and helped her recover.
They met when Lalou Bize-Leroy was 26. She fell in love at first sight and later said that they had never been apart from the moment they met.

With her husband's encouragement and support, she began again. Together they gradually built a new estate, Domaine d'Auvenay, where they enjoyed a quiet rural life.
As life improved, Lalou's hope returned, and the prince and princess continued their happy life together.
Fate intervened again in August 2004, when her husband died suddenly. Lalou Bize-Leroy lost the love of her life and was plunged into grief.
That same year brought further hardship: powdery mildew and hail badly damaged the Leroy vineyards, and the fruit did not meet Lalou Bize-Leroy's standards.
Lalou Bize-Leroy's selection standards had always been exceptionally demanding. With harvest approaching, she still had to decide what to do.
To protect quality, she ultimately made a startling decision: she blended fruit from Grand Cru, Premier Cru and village vineyards together and declassified all of it as regional wine.
Burgundy's hierarchy runs from Grand Cru > Premier Cru > village > regional appellation.
In effect, Lalou combined the top three tiers but sold the result at the fourth tier's price, making the wines remarkable value on that basis.

They released a total of 5 wines under lower appellations.
They were Bourgogne, Chambolle-Musigny, Gevrey-Chambertin, Nuits-Saint-Georges and Vosne-Romanée.
At the time, however, the market was sceptical. No one had taken this approach before, and buyers were unsure how such blended and declassified wines should be priced.
The 2004 Leroy wines initially found few buyers and were often allocated only as part of purchases that included other famous wines.
Today, the source reports that those 2004 Leroy wines have risen more than fortyfold, rewarding buyers who had once accepted them reluctantly. A setback can sometimes become an opportunity.

Dibao Wine understands the care invested in a collection and handles it with respect.