Domaine Laroche

About Domaine Laroche

Domaine Laroche in a few words.
• Owner of 90 hectares, in the best « crus » of Chablis with 12 Premiers Crus and 4 Grands Crus, Chablis Saint Martin is the flagship in more than 90 countries.
• More than 1000 years of History. In l’Obédiencerie, birth place of Chablis in the Middle Age.
• Cellars from the IXth century
• Their XIIIth century press is one of the most remarkable masterpiecs in the burgundian wine-producing region
• The Saint Martin relics were hidden for a decade at the end of the IXth century.
• The historical cellars are kept alive by ageing all our premier and grand crus there.
• The favourite ageing containers are the 228l « piece » and the « demi-muids ».
• Domaine Laroche follows the agro ecological principles: no pesticide & no herbicide
• The vineyard has got the high environmental value certification level 3A
• All estate wines are vegan certified
Domaine Laroche is on the TOP 100 of Wine & Spirits Magazine - among the 15 French estates, among the 5 Burgundy estates, only estate in Chablis

Representative Biography

Romain Chevrolat, Winemaker

Romain Chevrolat comes from a family of Champagne winemakers, originally from Les Riceys, a commune renowned for its famous Rosé-des-Riceys wine, located nearly 50km from Chablis.
Growing up in the southern Champagne region soon sparked his interest in the world of wine and led him to begin his university career in Reims.
He graduated as an oenologist from Dijon University in 2015 and trained at Maison Louis Latour and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.
From Champagne to Burgundy, Romain then moved down to the Rhône Valley to work at Domaine E. Guigal as an oenologist in 2018.
After some great successes over the last 5 vintages, he wanted to get back to the Kimmeridgian subsoil that is typical of Chablis and similar to his roots in Les Riceys.
He has joined Domaine Laroche since the beginning of July 2023 to continue revealing the exceptional terroirs and finesse of the wines.

Why We're Cool

Chablis is located in northern France in a cool continental climate region, Burgundy. Winter can be harsh. Summer is often warm but short. The blessing of the place is probably that a dry, sunny period appears in September, when grapes ripen. Cool climate is a question of terroir in Chablis. Chablis is born cool. The climate definitely influences the style of the wines: steely, pure, crisp and remarkably mineral.
Domaine Laroche vineyards are situated in the North of Burgundy, in the Yonne department, between Paris and Beaune, close to Champagne

Appellations & Planted areas (ha) – total 5589ha
Petit Chablis : Planted area (ha) 1082/19%
Chablis (yield 60 hl/ha) Planted area (ha) 3626/66%
Chablis Premier Cru (17 climats, yield 58 hl/ha) Planted area (ha) 780/14%
Chablis Grand Cru (7 climats, yield 54 hl/ha) Planted area (ha) 101/1%

Chablis Vineyards
• 100% CHARDONNAY
• 5589 Hectares
• 284 147 hl Annual Production
• 379 Producers
• 33% of Burgundy white wines
• 18% of the total Burgundy wine production
The typical Chablis limestone soils of Kimmeridgien with the presence of fossils and exogira virgula. Continental climate with cold winter, spring frost, warm summer and mild autumn.

MASSALE SELECTION
Domaine Laroche is one of the few producers in Burgundy to preserve its own vineyard ID
Reproducing new plants from our old vines from more than 50 years:
• To keep the vineyard genetic inheritance
• To keep and improve our wines characteristics (aromas,..)
• To respond to the sanitary issues and wood diseases thanks to genetic diversity
• To ensure the durability of our vineyard by cloning our old vines and adapt to new climate conditions
• The program started in 2011 observing the vineyards from 1950 in Chablis Grand Cru Les Blanchots. This Massale Selection was planted in 2018 in Chablis Grand Cru LES CLOS

Biodynamics methods on the Grands Crus
Why: Use the soil and the environment of the vine as a source of energy for the plant to strengthen its immunity and
its adaptation to climate change
How: Creation of a Biodynamic workshop at the Estate / Training of the team
Preparation in our historical cellars : 500P(cow dung) then dynamization with plants (yarrow, chamomile
feverfew, oak bark, dandelion, valerian)
Spraying on moist and heated ground
When: 2 to 3 times a year: after harvest, at bud burst, between flower and veraison.
Natural Seeding Cover
• After the harvest, the technical team sows a mix of seeds : Oat, Peas, Chinees radish, Turnip, Lentils

Benefits for vineyard:
✓ To stimulate the ground biodiversity
✓ To bring naturally nutritional elements to the vine in the springtime when dismantling the soil (nitrogen)
✓ To reduce erosion as 35% of our vineyard are planted on the steep hills
✓ To give a better structure to solid soils because of the use of heavy machines (natural aeration of the ground)

The Evolution of Pruning
Why: The winters being less cold, the vine has a shorter rest period and an early budburst.
The late frosts in Chablis prompted us to adapt the size of the vineyard.
How: Pre-pruning in double guyot from December to February to prepare the fruiting baguette Peeling
(known as “Plumage” in Beaune) to delay budding in March

Biodiversity is our priority
• Domaine Laroche is the only Estate in the region (Yonne department) to have signed a partnership with the league for birds protection. 10 bird nests have been installed in Vaudevey.
• We therefore take part in the reintroduction of the Athéna owl in our vineyards which has the capacity to eradicate up to 400 worms to replace the use of insecticides.
• Bat houses have been installed in Languedoc