Domaine Leflaive 

Exceptional releases direct from the Domaine February 2010

We are delighted to present to you the opportunity to access wines from an indisputably great vintage, direct from the cellars of Domaine Leflaive and at a time when those wines are approaching their finest drinking years. It has long been the practice of the Domaine to reserve a little stock of the most successful vintages for release at a later date. Much of this wine has historically found its way in a steady drip to the most celebrated restaurants of France. It is thus a particular delight to be able to offer the 2002 vintage once more, with perfect provenance, to followers of the Domaine in the United Kingdom. 

 

2002 Vintage Report

The Wines

Releases direct from the Domaine February 2010  

2002 vintage

With the passage of time, 2002 is remembered as one of the great Burgundy vintages of recent times. However, that acclaim was far from guaranteed. All had looked highly promising in the early season but a humid spell from mid August that lasted until 10th September threatened to derail perfection’s path. As sooften, the north wind arrived at just the right moment, banishing the threat of rot. Apart from a surge of heat in late June, temperatures were moderate for much of the growing season and rainfall was very low. As harvest got underway on 19th September, fresh acidity, excellent concentration, minerality, purity and raciness were all noted, bringing the promise of a classic, healthy crop, consistent from top to bottom.

“The 2002 vintage is one of the Domaine’s landmark years: excellent structure, elegance, freshness, raciness and balance – qualities that indicate that the 2002 vintage will age well” - Domaine Leflaive

We asked Eric Rémy where he placed 2002 in the pantheon of Leflaive vintages and while understandably reluctant to talk up or down any vintages given that they all have their varying merits, he did concede that 2002 has to be ‘among the very greatest ever at the Domaine’.

Today, the 2002s are starting to sing. At the lower levels, the wines are in indeed in full voice but clearly have the sustaining power to see them through several more movements. At the higher echelons, the wines have completed their warm-ups but are really only mid-way through their overtures. Unless you know that you favour wines on the youthful side (and there are plenty who do), we would recommend further patience for those looking to drink at Grand Cru levels.

Serving

In order to prepare this offer, we have twice tasted the complete range of wines featured below, in November 2009 and again in late January 2010, at the Domaine. On both occasions, we found that the wines responded very positively to aeration and would thus encourage you to decant the wines at least one hour in advance of drinking, or perhaps to draw the cork up to four hours in advance should a decanter not be at hand. The wines have been starved of oxygen for some seven years and may display some reduced characters- notes of mocha, marmite or chocolate being the most common- on first inspection. These will “blow off” with air, which is what the act of decanting will provide, and behind them lies a fabulous world of bewitching beauty. It is a point of detail but one which we hope you will find to be useful advice.

A word about Premature Oxidation

 A cause célèbre among white burgundy drinkers, ‘Premox’ or the “P-ox” has been a blight to the enjoyment of many white burgundies at all levels in recent years and seems to be most prevalent in vintages since 1995. There are abundant theories as to what, why and when but as with most things Burgundian, generalisation is rarely helpful. In our experience and indeed from what we have gathered from our customers, from other customers of the Domaine and from the wider wine-drinking community, the wines of Domaine Leflaive are amongst the least culpable. The Domaine’s near-immaculate record in this regard is a subject that we have discussed at length with Anne-Claude Leflaive and with her régisseur Eric Remy and both the Domaine and armit are confident that this library stock will be free of the ‘P-Ox’. Sadly, cork-related issues can of course arise (failure rates are still acknowledged at 1-2% in the cork industry) and should you be unlucky, we would ask you to immediately return the bottle to us so that we can replace it.