DOMAINE LEFLAIVE
Posted by Mark J, Brookshaw on 9th Jun 2024
BURGUNDY,
A LAND FOR WINE
Burgundy is a land destined for wine by nature. In its millennial history, it has intimately linked man to the vine in certain places. In Puligny-Montrachet, in the heart of the Côte de Beaune, the Leflaive family has been established for more than three centuries.
THE ESSENCE OF THE LAND
There are few territories blessed with so much history and such geography. Since the Middle Ages, Burgundy has cultivated wine like no other region. The know-how of the monks has spanned the centuries, evangelizing each village of a vineyard that has always remained on a human scale. Today, it covers less than 30,000 ha, barely 4% of French vineyards.
At the crossroads of multiple climatic influences, which shape their temperament, Burgundy wines have acquired a unique reputation: simply the best Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs in the world. They come from a specific location, a plot of vines often of modest size: these famous climats form the basis of the Burgundian model.
The diversity of Burgundy wines is also found in its 84 appellations, from the Grands Crus at the top of the pyramid to the regional AOCs, including the Premiers Crus and the Villages. More than a classification or a nomenclature, these are names that populate the imagination of amateurs: Gevrey-Chambertin, Vougeot, Corton, Meursault… Or even, in the heart of the Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet where the Leflaive family is established since 1717.
A FAMILY IN PULIGNY-MONTRACHET
Vines have been cultivated in Puligny Montrachet since Roman times. The name of the village is derived from the Latin “Puligniacus”.
Before the first Leflaives established themselves in Puligny-Montrachet in 1717, the village, linked to the cultivation of vines since the end of the 12th century, experienced a period of prosperity in the 18th century with new plantations. In Puligny, the generations of Leflaive practiced several professions, including that of cooper, and owned a few hectares of vines whose grapes were sold.
Towards the end of the 19th century, the phylloxera crisis destroyed almost the entire vineyard. However, it was in these troubled times, in 1879, that the name of Montrachet was attached to that of Puligny, as well as that of Chassagne, definitively anchoring the destiny of the village in great wines. A new story can be written. Joseph Leflaive (1870-1953) created the estate and placed it in the Burgundian terroir. The terroir in its raw definition: the union of a place and a man. The history of the Leflaive family is inseparable from Burgundy.
THE IMPRINT OF THE GRANDS CRUS
The centuries-old roots of Domaine Leflaive's Grands Crus require us to live up to these terroirs. This gift of nature also requires a gift of the best of ourselves. Biodynamics is one of its expressions.
These rare wines have placed on the world map a narrow strip of land of a few kilometers in Côte de Beaune, the heart of which is located in Puligny-Montrachet. The Benedictine and Cistercian monks had already perceived its fruitful nature. The great wines are a synthesis of what the Burgundy terroirs provide: poor soil, ideal exposure, a location in the middle of the hillside, a draining slope. Old vines too, those which make great wines: the structure and substance are contained in these small clusters of great wines with limited yields.
Domaine Leflaive owns 4.8 hectares of grands crus in the Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, Chevalier-Montrachet and Montrachet appellations. Names that have spanned the centuries, which run through the most fervent thoughts of fans around the world today. The estate's teams are aware of the opportunity to work on this precious terroir every day.
THE PREMIERS CRUS
They are not first by chance and sometimes have the genius to be great. Located in the fruitful mid-coteau terroirs, the premier crus produce some of the finest wines of the Côte de Beaune. In a strip of land in continuity with the grands crus, and a few meters from Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet and Bâtard-Montrachet emerges Les Pucelles, a strip of land facing the east. Domaine Leflaive has 2.8 ha of this appellation with fine clay-limestone soils, particularly favorable to great whites. Nearby, the single plot of almost 4.8 ha Le Clavoillon, very representative of the Puligny-Montrachet appellation and the generous and delicate Leflaive style.
The estate also has plots of premier crus in Les Folatières (1.2 ha), more limestone soils which smell after rain, and in Les Combettes (0.73 ha) on the edge of the village of Meursault. A little further and higher on the hillside, on the edge of the path between Puligny and Meursault is the premier cru Meursault Sous le Dos d'Âne, which allows Domaine Leflaive to express these neighboring terroirs in its own way.
THE MÂCONNAIS
The southernmost terroir of Burgundy, the Mâconnais articulates its vineyard between impressive mountains and rocks. It is around the Roche de Solutré that Domaine Leflaive will seek the best expression of Pouilly-Fuissé, the most renowned appellation of the Mâconnais whose wines are closest to those of the Côte de Beaune with great potential for aging. A blend of nine plots, nuanced by the Leflaive style, where elegance refines the richness of the wine. If there is a Mâconnais identity, it is also about showing the singularity of certain terroirs.
In the Mâcon-Verzé appellation, two plots have been isolated since 2017: Les Chênes, facing west, and Le Monté, facing north. An instructive case of the consequences of global warming: this late terroir, rich in flint, has become conducive to the expression of a true personality. Furthermore, with the new Mâconnais classification, the parcel known as En Vigneraie entered premier cru with the 2020 vintage.
THE VILLAGES AND WHITE BURGUNDY
In the historical classification of Burgundy wines, the Villages best represent the style of an entire appellation. The Puligny-Montrachet Village of Domaine Leflaive thus comes from the assembly of seven plots at the bottom of the hillside. So many places that come together to assert their common character. Like a precipitate of the most accurate of an entire appellation. In Auxey-Duresses, the white terroirs produce delicious Chardonnays which develop beautiful texture. The estate's Village cuvée expresses all of this.
In the Burgundian structure, regional appellations are often produced from a large surface area of vineyards, on the scale of at least part of the region. Domaine Leflaive produces its white Burgundy on two hectares of vines located in Puligny-Montrachet itself, at the bottom of emblematic hillsides, worked with the same care.
WINES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE
Domaines Leflaive Auxey Duresses, Leflaive Associés 2022
Domaines Leflaive Puligny Montrachet 2022
Domaines Leflaive Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon 2022