La Maison D'Olivier Leflaive Visit

Place du Monument, 21 190, Puligny-Montrachet
Tasted Thursday, August 7, 2014 - Saturday, August 9, 2014 by Goldstone with 487 views

Introduction

This is a really super place to stay in Puligny: a beautiful small hotel run by the Leflaive family themselves and purpose-built as a setting for wine tasting and visits to the vineyards and the winery as well as beautiful rooms to retire to. The purpose is to showcase the 'Olivier Leflaive' wines, which are those made from bought-in grapes as opposed to Domaine Olivier Leflaive, which are the wines made from parcels owned by the family. However, the cultivation and winemaking is all done by the same team so it is a bit of a moot point.

Patrick and Olivier Leflaive were at pains to point out that they make their white Burgundy in a manner that maximises the requirement for evolution in the bottle. So most of the wines we tasted were almost painfully immature and very much a work in progress.

Flight 1 - Arrival Dinner (3 Notes)

Three wines bought by the glass in the restaurant to accompany our arrival dinner.

  • 2012 Olivier Leflaive Saint-Romain Sous le Château Blanc 87 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Saint-Romain

    (8/7/2014)

    Light greenish gold. Nose is lovely fresh mine rally and limestone nose with quite a lot of oak. Very classy. Palate is burnished copper, sharp but rounded. Moderate finish but superbly made and actually more resonant than it initially appeared.

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  • 2009 Olivier Leflaive Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos St. Marc 90 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

    (8/7/2014)

    Light silver gold colour. Nose is very classy, minerals and limestone but with a lot of ozone and lovely fresh grated lemon skin. Palate is razor sharp, extremely precise, mouthwatering lemony acidity, very young but all the elements are there. Very light treatment of oak......must be old barrels. Lemon sherberts boiled sweets. All the high piano notes. Too young to display much length or resonance. Needs a lot more time to develop its full character.

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  • 2010 Olivier Leflaive Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

    (8/7/2014)

    Light silvery gold. Nose is wow....restrained but beautifully elegant and aloof. Sun dried whole lemons, limestone, beautifully harmonious. Melted salted butter. Very sophisticated but you need to chase after it. Palate is OFMG....no sharp edges but very much at the high notes end of the piano. Extremely precise. Predominant acidity because of its youth but you can see it's potential to mature into something really special in 10-15 years. At the moment it would be a waste to open a bottle, which I guess is where the winery dinner serves it purpose.

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Flight 2 - Wine Tasting Lunch (1 Note)

This kicked off with an aperitif of their Vin Bourgogne entry-level casual wine.

  • 2011 Olivier Leflaive Bourgogne Blanc Les Sétilles 85 Points

    France, Burgundy, Bourgogne Blanc

    (8/8/2014)

    Silvery green gold. Nose is lightly perfumed, lemon zest, uncomplicated. Palate is very crisp, some mineral, great white apple fresh acidity, with the classic Leflaive cleanliness. Artisanal rather than rustic. Dry, short but fruity finish.

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Flight 3 - Wine Tasting Lunch - 3 Villages (3 Notes)

  • 2011 Olivier Leflaive Meursault Les Vireuils 88 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault

    (8/8/2014)

    Moderate gold colour. Nose is honey, chalk and minerals. Palate is great acidic freshness, almost petillante on the tongue, lots of fresh fresh lemony acidity with a good mineral finish. Not as buttery or honeyed as you'd expect in a Mersault. Resonant. Very clean fresh and satisfying. Young and zesty. Light for a Mersault, which is the Olivier Leflaive style. Impressive for a Villages wine.

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  • 2010 Olivier Leflaive Chassagne-Montrachet 88 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet

    (8/8/2014)

    Light green gold. Nose is muted, unsalted melted butter and finely judged light oak. Palate is more weighty than the preceding Mersault, surprisingly. Lovely cutting acidity with the signature Chassagne-Montrachet fresh-baked lemons, great chalky and mineral finale. Light resonance and some reverberance. Super for a villages wine. Will improve with 2-3 years.

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  • 2010 Olivier Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet Les Enseignères 88 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet

    (8/8/2014)

    Very light green-silver colour. Nose is oh gosh....super... a gorgeous harmony of smoky temples, ozone, sea breeze, hints of acacia flower. Palate is very clean, refreshing acidity with the minerality in the foreground and the citrus notes in the background. Very well made and extremely impressive for a villages. 88+

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Flight 4 - Wine Tasting Lunch - 3 1er Crus (3 Notes)

  • 2009 Olivier Leflaive Meursault 1er Cru Les Poruzots 88 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

    (8/8/2014)

    Greenish gold. Nose is yummy classic rich butter and hints of honey... not classic Meursault but all the nicer for it. Palate is very lemon-forward acidity and very young. Lots of resonance and excellent reverberance. A super fresh zingy take on Meursault but needs 4-5 years to flesh out.

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  • 2009 Olivier Leflaive Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos St. Marc 89 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

    (8/8/2014)

    Lemony silver gold colour. Nose is reticent but all there: fresh-peeled green hazelnuts, you have to chase for anything else at this youthful stage. Palate is gorgeous but pre-adolescent: super lemony acidic freshness and multi-tiered minerality.....really super. Lovely mineraly afterglow. Needs 4-5 years to become a teenager. Scored for as it drinks today.

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  • 2009 Olivier Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champs Canet 90 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

    (8/8/2014)

    Bright light copper gold colour. Nose is oh gosh.... super buttery harmony, hazelnuts, you have to chase after it but it is mesmerizing even at this very young age. Palate is too young.... very clean but overwhelmingly acidic. Needs 5 years minimum. This is built to last.

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Flight 5 - Wine Tasting Lunch - 2 Reds (2 Notes)

  • 2010 Olivier Leflaive Volnay 87 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay

    (8/8/2014)

    Transparent ruby red. Nose is lovely light sweet strawberry fruit and hints of smoke. Palate is fresh, bracing, young, tannic but accessible until it dries on the back palate to sour cherry...very sour at this age. Rather forward oak on the tongue. Too young to display much length. Needs 5-10 years.

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  • 2010 Olivier Leflaive Pommard 1er Cru Les Charmots 91 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru

    (8/8/2014)

    Deeper semi transparent jeweled ruby colour. Nose is soft and inviting sous bois and confit strawberry. Palate is quite acidic and lots of young tannin but not too obstructing of the lovely spiciness. Excellent with local cows cheese. A super wine and will only improve over the next 10 years.

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Closing

A really great 3 days that deepened my appreciation of Leflaive wines, especially the attention to detail in producing very clean-cut wines.

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