Le Domaine d'Henri

Named after his father, Le Domaine d’Henri is Michel Laroche’s legacy to his children. This wine presents an excellent opportunity to sample the “once in a generation” 2014 vintage – which is renowned for its uniformly high quality across the region. With outstanding freshness, crisp citrus fruits, and Chablis’s trademark oyster-shell aromas, this is a wonderful wine which pairs beautifully with shellfish and lighter white meat dishes.
10

With a fine, pale colour, the nose is restrained in youth, but there is a delicious wealth of fruit on the palate, folded into a rich background and finishing in fresh style. This is a very stylish bottling of Fourchaume. Drink 2019-2023.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

Visiting the domaine during the 2015 harvest, we found Margaux Laroche beaming like a cat with two tails. The storm which had dropped hail over other vineyards had merely provided much needed water for their Fourchaume vines. The grapes badly needed the extra juice which the rains provided, and the extra hang time allowed for them to assimilate the water usefully and then regain their equilibrium behind. The resulting wines are terrific.

These old vines, the last to be picked, are from the end of l'Homme Mort sector, a cooler site which delivers grapes with thick skins and hence great concentration of flavour, especially after a long but very gentle pressing. The 2015 has lovely, fresh, concentrated fruit; a powerful structure with good tannins; and a complex, richly fruited finish. There are multiple layers of flavour, waves of pure white fruit and a few fresh plums too. Drink 2019-2024.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

Visiting the domaine during the 2015 harvest, we found Margaux Laroche beaming like a cat with two tails. The storm which had dropped hail over other vineyards had merely provided much needed water for their Fourchaume vines. The grapes badly needed the extra juice which the rains provided, and the extra hang time allowed for them to assimilate the water usefully and then regain their equilibrium behind. The resulting wines are terrific.

A glorious, pale, bright appearance, with dense white fruit – not overtly juicy but with a great deal in reserve. There’s enormous weight behind this, with some fresh pear notes, and cashmere-like texture alongside the austerity of youth.

The third vintage at Domaine d’Henri is the best to date, and so they make their debut in our en primeur brochure. The grapes were hand picked between the 17th and 25th September, a long enough window to allow each plot to reach the desired degree of ripeness, and the wines have seen about 25 percent barrel-ageing. They will not be bottled until the spring.

This blends the 1937-planted Ardillier fruit, along with L’Homme Mort and Fourchaume, with around a quarter raised in oak. The concentration of the reduced yield shines through, yet does not make the wine unbalanced. It is powerful, with a creamy, supple texture, and a simmering undercurrent of energetic minerals. Incredible persistence. Drink 2021-2026.
Adam Bruntlett, Burgundy Buyer

Having stepped down from the company which bears his name, Michel Laroche has, along with his daughters, launched a small domaine based on their family vineyards, named after Michel’s father Henri. Their principal holdings are in Premier Cru Fourchaume, especially a Vieilles Vignes cuvée from 47-year-old vines in L’Homme Mort and an Héritage cuvée, which comes from the oldest parcel (planted in 1937) in the lieu-dit of l’Ardillier. At an average of just 13hl/ha, Michel Laroche described this as the worst vintage – in volume terms – that he has seen in 50 years. Fourchaume, where the family has the vast majority of its Premier Cru holdings, was particularly badly hit by both frost and hail. As a result, they have made a single “super-cuvée” of Fourchaume, including the estate’s oldest vines.