DRC co-director Henri-Frédéric Roch dies

Henri-Frédéric Roch, the co-director of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and owner of Domaine Prieuré-Roch has died at the age of 56.

According to reports in the French media, Roch died last weekend during the night of Saturday 17 to Sunday 18 November. The cause of death was not given.

Alongside Aubert de Villaine, Roch became co-director of the famed Burgundian estate when his own brother, Charles, was killed in a car accident. He was the representative of the Leroy family at the estate, his mother being Pauline Roch-Leroy, sister of Lalou Bize-Leroy who was co-director until 1991.

Despite his position at the Vosne-Romanée property, Roch kept himself very much behind the scenes, with de Villaine being the domaine’s principal public figure.

Roch’s own estate, founded in 1988, is justly famous in its own right. What will now become of it and who will take his place in what is the most highly-regarded estate in the world will no doubt be the subject of intense speculation.

Speculation that comes just days after his aunt denied rumours that her own property, Domaine Leroy, was up for sale.

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