1997 Pommard – Les Perrieres Domaine Raymond Launay

1 Bottle
1997 Pommard – Les Perrieres Domaines Raymond Launay

Domaine Launay Horiot
Burgundy – Côte de Beaune

The story of Xavier Horiot, the owner and now wine maker of Domaine Lauray Horiot is nothing but astonishing. This drama consists of family dispute, greed, passion, lawyers and court case that lasted 11 years, combined with the impossible French inheritance and tax laws and the stratospheric market value of vineyards in Burgundy over the last two decades.

The Launay family settled in Pommard in the 18th century and over the years acquired impressive set of vineyards: The 4 hectares domaine includes the 2.2 ha Pommard Les Perrieres vineyard which was originally planted in 1902, a superb array of old vines Pommard 1er Cru vineyards including 0.09 ha Les Rugien Bas, 0.59 ha Les Chaponnieres and 0.17 ha Clos Blanc, and two exceptional holdings of Grand Cru vineyards in Gevrey-Chambertin: an 0.17 ha of Latricieres Chambertin (located next to Pierre Duroche’s vines), and an 0.16 ha holding of Chambertin located next to the vines of no other but Lalou Bize-Leroy.

The drama started with the death of Raymond Launay in 2000. He left his 4 hectare domaine, to his daughter and to his grandson Xavier Horiot – just to realize before his death that his daughter had no intention of continuing the family domaine but just wanted to sell it off and cash the land, a fact that broke his heart. But unfortunately, due to the French inheritance laws he could do nothing about that.

Xavier, who served in the French air force as fighter jet pilot, was determined to follow his beloved grandfather’s wishes, his passion and his dreams to revive the Domaine and make wine from his family’s vineyards. After 11-year battle in French courts, which drained his resources but made him ever more determined to fulfill his dreams, finally in 2011 the court had ruled in his favor and handed the precious vineyards to his possession. (The irony was that his aunt who fought him for all these years in court died 2 months after the court’s ruling and had no heirs).

Xavier quit his service in the air force and returned to Pommard to restart the difficult revival process of the domaine. Luckily, over all these years the vineyards were being taken care of by good hands, and the vines gained age. He decided to start slowly, and for the first 3 years while he started to establish the winery from scratch with virtually no financial capabilities, he worked the vineyards, made experiments with his grapes and sold most of the grapes to other producers to gather capital to enable him purchase equipment required for both the vineyards’ work and vinification.

In 2014 he felt ready to start making his own wines with the close help from the talented consultant Veronique Girard (using his own words, Xavier “felt that Pommard would benefit from woman’s touch”). Critics started visiting him (Tim Atkin was the first one, followed by Allen Meadows, Michel Betanne and others). Instantly there was general consensus that the wines from the Village Pommard to the 1er Crus are uniquely gentle expression of Pommards, all promising and highly enjoyable, to the two Grand Crus, Latricieres Chambertin and the Chambertin that are both brilliant expression of their relative teroirs.

The wines from the 2015 vintage show that the hard work and determination of Xavier paid off, and the wines started to gain general recognition among serious Burgundy lovers, and all critics without exception praised them and rewarded them with consistent high scores and notes spanning from “Sweet spot outstanding” to “Don’t miss!”. Tasting the 2016s from barrel convinced us that the trend continues, as the wines already show their balance, purity and charm at this early stage of their development. We have no doubt that the future of Domaine Launay-Horiot in Xavier’s hands is brilliant.

The 1997 Domaine Raymond Launay Pommard ‘Les Perrières’ is a red wine from the Pommard Premier Cru appellation in the Côte de Beaune, Burgundy, France

This wine is made from Pinot Noir, the predominant grape variety in the region, known for producing wines with depth, complexity, and aging potential.

The ‘Les Perrières’ vineyard is one of the Premier Cru sites in Pommard, an area renowned for producing some of Burgundy’s most robust and structured Pinot Noir wines. Wines from Pommard, and ‘Les Perrières’ in particular, are appreciated for their rich fruit, earthy notes, and ability to develop nuanced secondary characteristics over time

The 1997 vintage from Domaine Raymond Launay comes from a period marked by a family dispute, greed, passion, and an 11-year court case related to French inheritance and tax laws.

Despite these challenges, the estate has a history of wine production dating back to the 18th century. Before Raymond Launay’s passing, it was uncertain if the winemaking tradition would continue. However, his grandson, Xavier Horiot, took over, transitioning from a career as a fighter pilot in the French Air Force to winemaking. Xavier’s first vintage was released in 2014, after initially selling grapes to invest in the winery.

The vineyards of Domaine Launay Horiot, including ‘Les Perrières’, are managed with minimal intervention. The Pinot Noir grapes are manually harvested and undergo a quality check in the cellar to ensure that only the best grapes are used. Each plot produces a single vineyard cuvée, fermented and bottled separately. The wines are aged in French oak barrels for 12 to 16 months, with the proportion of new oak varying per appellation and cuvée.

The 1997 Domaine Raymond Launay Pommard ‘Les Perrières’ represents a piece of Burgundy’s winemaking history, embodying the region’s tradition of producing exceptional Pinot Noir wines. The wine’s quality and character are a testament to the resilience and dedication of the Launay and Horiot families to continue their winemaking legacy despite significant challenges.

The average price of the 1997 Pommard – Les Perrieres Domaine Raymond Launay is $200.00