The Wines of Domaine Leflaive

“ Domaine Leflaive without doubt produces some of the world’s greatest dry white wines. The immense breed and distinction of their wines come not only from the impeccable pedigree of the sites, but also from the skill and care of their winemaking.”

There have been Leflaives in the region since 1580, but the first traces of Domaine Leflaive emerged when Claude Leflaive came to live in the domaine’s present buildings in 1717. At that time they had some 5 hectares of vines. The domaine itself was created by Anne-Claude’s grandfather Joseph, who came to Burgundy in 1905 after the failure of an unsuccessful business venture, and an adventurous life which included a period in Indochina, and being one of the engineers who built the first French submarine.

Over the next few years, with the price of vineyards at an historical low after the devastation caused by phylloxera, he was able to buy 25 hectares of vines and a number of buildings in Puligny. When Joseph died in 1953, the running of the domaine was taken on by his sons Joseph-Régis and Vincent. They did not live in Puligny, but visited regularly, particularly of course at harvest time.

The management of the domaine at this time was in the care of the great Burgundian vigneron François Virot, a man never seen without his beret and his pipe. His son Jean inherited the management; I knew him well and never saw him without his beret either. Only in 1977 was it decided to bottle the entire production of the domaine: previously some wine had been sold in cask.

After some time abroad, Anne-Claude returned to take an active interest in the domaine. She took full control on the death of her father in 1993, since when the quality of the wines has improved consistently.

Clive Coates in Côte d’Or

“Anne-Claude is a woman of innovation, dynamism and great charm; these qualities are reflected in her wines.”

John Armit, armit wines

Lying across the middle of the Grand Cru hillside, below Chevalier and above Bâtard, with quite deep soil containing a level of manganese which gives tremendous mineral complexity to the wine. Leflaive's Montrachet should, without exception, be kept for a minimum of 15 years before drinking.

At the top of the hillside, these vines are at an altitude of around 250m in very poor, chalky soil. The south-east exposure is superb: finesse and elegance are the hallmarks of this great vineyard.

Like Bienvenues Bâtard Montrachet, Bâtard lies at the base of the Grand Cru hillside, where the soil is deeper than higher up the slope. On slightly heavier soil than Bienvenues, the wine is opulent and powerful, but always with a very fine structure of acidity to maintain its elegance.

A small enclave at the northern end of Bâtard Montrachet, the aeration of the soil is extremely important here to combat the higher humidity. At 48 years of age, the vines are the domaine's oldest, and produce wine of tremendous finesse and length.

‘The wine has a fatness, a honeyed or honeysuckle fragrance, and a certain delicacy: feminine where Chevalier is masculine.’ Clive Coates in Côte D’Or.

The most northerly of the Premiers Crus, Combettes abuts Meursault and produces wines that are rounded and plump in style.

‘Les Combettes is ... a mouth-watering and deliciously elegant combination of Meursault and Puligny, with the steeliness of the latter and the honeysuckle and hazelnut of the former’.
Clive Coates in Côte D’Or

The closest in quality to Grand Cru of all the Premiers Crus, as the Pucelles vineyard is separated from the Grand Cru Bienvenues Bâtard Montrachet by nothing more than a narrow road. The wine is characterised by its complexity, finesse and length.

The highest of the Domaine’s Premier Cru vineyard sites, with very shallow, chalky soil. The wines of Folatières are remarkable for their great finesse and mineral structure.

A slightly lower-lying easterly continuation of Folatières with deep, though still stony, soil. Clavoillon gives density, depth and power, and in recent years has been producing wines of quite exceptional quality.

“Leflaive wines are infinitely seductive and enticingly drinkable when young. But do not be hasty. Given time they get even better, and they last for ages”.

Clive Coates in Côte D’Or.

Grapes from five separate parcels of vines go into the village wine. Vines on the Chassagne side of Puligny give density and weight, while those towards the Meursault side of the appellation bring minerality and finesse. The combination produces a village wine of unusual complexity.

There are two parcels of vines in the Domaine Leflaive Bourgogne Blanc, totalling 2.75 hectares. Both are within the village, behind the cuverie, although not entitled to the Village Appellation. The soil is deep, giving the wine richness and opulence.

“ The wines are remarkably consistent and simply never disappoint. They are often exhilarating in their glorious display of power and elegance”.

Robert Parker Burgundy – A comprehensive Guide to the Producers, Appellations and Wines.

23 hectares. Average age of vines: 30 years

Anne-Claude believes that the health of the harvest determines the wines’ quality. Factors at work include: the use of compost, close pruning, de-budding and organic cultivation.

She is deeply concerned about the irreversible damage caused to the soil in Burgundy by fertilizers and pesticides, and follows organic methods. In 1990 she adopted the biodynamic methods inspired by Rudolf Steiner on a proportion of vines in different vineyards. This involves using diluted doses of plant-based compounds, in tune with the seasons and planetary movements, to treat the vines and soil. The effects of these treatments were immediately apparent in the vineyards, where the vines became demonstrably healthier, resulting in an obvious difference in the wines they produced. As a result, she made the brave step to become completely biodynamic in 1998.

As a child, Anne-Claude would accompany her father to the domaine at the weekends. The first harvest with which she helped was in 1973, and she has missed few since. All the grapes are, of course, picked by hand by a group of 80 pickers, many of whom return year after year to be a part of the process of making some of the world’s greatest wines. The grapes are picked into small baskets and taken to the winery where they are transferred into a series of ‘vibrating bins’. These allow them to be passed on to the sorting table without any crushing or other damage, and here they are meticulously sorted by a highly experienced team of 8 who remove every grape that is not in absolutely perfect condition.

The fruit is then pressed and the juice transferred to the winery, of which Clive Coates says, ‘..the Leflaive installation is spotless. This passion for cleanliness is no mere idiosyncratic fetish; it is emblematic of the Leflaive approach to wine-making’. The juice spends 12 hours at 7°C in stainless steel tanks to allow the ‘gross lees’ to settle, and is then decanted into barrels on its ‘fine lees’ where the natural yeasts allow the alcoholic fermentation to begin. New wood, which is selected individually to suit the characteristics of each vintage, never exceeds 35% for any of the wines, with the exception of Le Montrachet where annual production is only one barrel, and a new cask is used each year. The lees are stirred from late in the alcoholic fermentation, between once and three times a week, until the malolactic fermentation begins. After malolactic, the wines are racked into tank, the individual cuvées are blended, and the wines are returned to barrel to complete their twelve months in wood. They are then re-assembled in stainless steel to settle prior to bottling.

“At Domaine Leflaive we make wines that are intended to age, which is why they sometimes do not taste exceptional when young. We want finesse above all. If I want to define our style, it is one of purity, precision and a certain crystalline quality. The wines are very tight when young, which is why I recommend decanting them an hour before drinking them.”

Anne-Claude Leflaive interviewed by Stephen Brook and featured in Decanter Magazine.

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