Reconditioned bottle. Some other contemporary notes identify similar characteristics of these recently reconditioned bottles. Very fresh, clean and young feeling. It’s like drinking 2017 not 97. I bet these will be great but for today they are charming and rather simple relative to what 90s Leflaive is capable of delivering. To be clear, still very tasty today.
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Domaine Leflaive vertical winetasting dinner (rest. FB (KG arr)): I have been so fortunate to be able to buy directly from the Cellars of Domaine Leflaive 3 rebottled and reconditioned Chevalier and Batard Montrachet 1997 and 2002. First time I taste that old Leflaive. Domaine Leflaive is one of my favourite producers but I have had so many disappointments because of premox. Last time related to 3 (three) bottles of Chevalier Montrachet 2007 - all of them premoxed... The purpose of this winetasting dinner was to test these extremely rare old bottles in perfect condition against younger vintages. Let me immediately reveal the conclusion: No premox at all, so far so good. My favourite was Chevalier M 2002 with a little fresh fruit left but dominated by dried fruit (95+) close followed by Batard M 2015 with lots of fresher primary fruit (95). The two 1997 (chevalier and Batard) were in perfect condition but too tertiary for me in comparison to both 2002 and 2015 - no fresh fruit at all, only dried fruit left (mainly apricot) (both 94).
The tasting's seventh wine was Batard M 1997. As mentioned not my favourite of the evening. None of my 9 participants had 1997 as their favourite. Deep gold colour, but no oxidation at all. No freshness/fruitiness left, only tertiary notes like dried fruit and honey. Because of the tertiary notes I would not have guessed Domaine Leflaive in a blind tasting (I am used to younger vintages). Among others I did not get the typical toast/popcorn notes. Nevertheless an outstanding wine, 94, but not as good as Chevalier M 2002 which still had a little fruitiness. I believe a vintage 2007 in perfect condition would have been the optimal mix between primary and tertiary notes with an extremely high score. Sad I have never found such a bottle without premox.
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Wax capsule. Sesame! Bright and toned fruit, sweet, super fresh, thank you extra sulfur. Great weight and complexity if slightly shy from the height of this wine. Give me some more electric fruit. 93-94
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Re-corked bottle showing fresh and clean. Seems much younger and almost primary. Not tremendously big which is a good thing here. Flowery nose, good length.
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Dark color and past its peak, but still it's excellent. Rounder and not as precise as the best tonight but very gulpable. Mouthfiilling and dense, not as precise or dense as the best from Leflaive. But we are nitpicking here, it suffers only by comparison. On its own would be much loved and admired.
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Served blind, I had guessed '00 Leflaive Batard. The reveal was a big shocker to everyone, this has so much life in it, nobody guessed '97. It was a stellar performance for this wine, flinty nose, balanced palate, and a long and beautiful finish. I would never buy this for fear of oxidation, but perfectly stored bottles should be treasured.
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Dinner at Ma Cuisine (Beaune): Shared by a friend at a nearby table. Very ripe and lots of concentration, but I detect an energy shortage in this wine, which makes it seem rather tired.
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Still pale yellow. Remarkably vivid aromas of lemon, quinine, verbena and vanilla. Incisive but with grand cru heft and richness. A distinctive wine drinking at a youthful peak.
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Drunk at Amuse Bouche - 22/1/2015 - No trace of 'premox' here. An extremely enjoyable wine that had acid and weight. This wine definitely delivers on the promise suggested by the nose.
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Really remarkable wine. I immediately thought this was Coche from the nose. Rich, full, broad and creamy on the palate. Love the butter notes. Long finish.
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Tasted along side its nephew, Olivier Leflaive Criots-Batard Montrachet 1997. It was interesting how two Domaines situated close to each other and held by seperate family members could be so different.
The Domaine Leflaive tasted very well. Although 97 was not the best of years, this wine has held well and had been stored in extremely well. The wine poured still retained a light crisp yellow hue (the Criots-Batard has already evolved to a deeper yellow with pinkish hues). Initial bouquet retained apples and pears and the palate reminded of butter scotch and minerals. Should still evolve well.
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Creamy yellow/orange colour with an almost syrupy texture. Nose of butter, nuts, cream and citrus and a nice palate of toasted bread, and grapefruit with a touch of minerality. Very enjoyable for a wine of this vintage.
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Nose is becoming secondary from this jeroboam - it is clean but becoming cystalized. The age is showing on the palate too, but it had retained its sweetness and nice biting acid structure. Perfectly enjoyable but I would not seek this out, even in this larger format.
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Classic Leflaive aromas of gunflint, matchstick. Very smooth, rich and buttery, a little too fat for my taste, but some minerals and density. Finish somewhat lacking.
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with risotto (parmesan+black truffles) -- although the vintage is clearly not the best of last century, this wine didn't fail to deliver. The nose showed, among other usual suspects, toasted bread and butter -- toasted bread was the dominating aroma. Full and more mineral in the mouth, very long and balanced finish. Very good wine.
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4/23/2023 - Peter Spijker Likes this wine: 95 Points
Hedonistic compared to the 2000 Ramonet Batard tasted next to it. Stunning wine.
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9/16/2022 - AValdes Likes this wine: 93 Points
Reconditioned bottle. Some other contemporary notes identify similar characteristics of these recently reconditioned bottles. Very fresh, clean and young feeling. It’s like drinking 2017 not 97. I bet these will be great but for today they are charming and rather simple relative to what 90s Leflaive is capable of delivering. To be clear, still very tasty today.
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11/3/2021 - Kim Gerner wrote: 94 Points
Domaine Leflaive vertical winetasting dinner (rest. FB (KG arr)): I have been so fortunate to be able to buy directly from the Cellars of Domaine Leflaive 3 rebottled and reconditioned Chevalier and Batard Montrachet 1997 and 2002. First time I taste that old Leflaive. Domaine Leflaive is one of my favourite producers but I have had so many disappointments because of premox. Last time related to 3 (three) bottles of Chevalier Montrachet 2007 - all of them premoxed...
The purpose of this winetasting dinner was to test these extremely rare old bottles in perfect condition against younger vintages. Let me immediately reveal the conclusion: No premox at all, so far so good. My favourite was Chevalier M 2002 with a little fresh fruit left but dominated by dried fruit (95+) close followed by Batard M 2015 with lots of fresher primary fruit (95). The two 1997 (chevalier and Batard) were in perfect condition but too tertiary for me in comparison to both 2002 and 2015 - no fresh fruit at all, only dried fruit left (mainly apricot) (both 94).
The tasting's seventh wine was Batard M 1997. As mentioned not my favourite of the evening. None of my 9 participants had 1997 as their favourite. Deep gold colour, but no oxidation at all. No freshness/fruitiness left, only tertiary notes like dried fruit and honey. Because of the tertiary notes I would not have guessed Domaine Leflaive in a blind tasting (I am used to younger vintages). Among others I did not get the typical toast/popcorn notes. Nevertheless an outstanding wine, 94, but not as good as Chevalier M 2002 which still had a little fruitiness. I believe a vintage 2007 in perfect condition would have been the optimal mix between primary and tertiary notes with an extremely high score. Sad I have never found such a bottle without premox.
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10/15/2021 - hprphf Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wax capsule. Sesame! Bright and toned fruit, sweet, super fresh, thank you extra sulfur. Great weight and complexity if slightly shy from the height of this wine. Give me some more electric fruit. 93-94
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7/26/2021 - aquacongas wrote: 97 Points
semiblind, 95,96, 97
only just behind the 96. Outstanding. 97
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3/27/2021 - steinersing wrote: 95 Points
Re-corked bottle showing fresh and clean. Seems much younger and almost primary. Not tremendously big which is a good thing here. Flowery nose, good length.
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3/9/2019 - Burgundy Al wrote: 90 Points
La Paulée de New York Gala Dinner (Pier Sixty - New York NY): Small glass, brief note. Rich and unctuous, so easy to enjoy. Apple pie and honeycomb. Best to drink up in this format, smaller formats are likely less exciting.
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9/21/2018 - Alex G. Likes this wine:
Dark color and past its peak, but still it's excellent. Rounder and not as precise as the best tonight but very gulpable. Mouthfiilling and dense, not as precise or dense as the best from Leflaive. But we are nitpicking here, it suffers only by comparison. On its own would be much loved and admired.
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1/26/2018 - Alex G. Likes this wine:
Served blind, I had guessed '00 Leflaive Batard. The reveal was a big shocker to everyone, this has so much life in it, nobody guessed '97. It was a stellar performance for this wine, flinty nose, balanced palate, and a long and beautiful finish. I would never buy this for fear of oxidation, but perfectly stored bottles should be treasured.
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6/28/2016 - Burgundy Al wrote:
Dinner at Ma Cuisine (Beaune): Shared by a friend at a nearby table. Very ripe and lots of concentration, but I detect an energy shortage in this wine, which makes it seem rather tired.
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11/13/2015 - Mistress of Wine Likes this wine:
Still pale yellow. Remarkably vivid aromas of lemon, quinine, verbena and vanilla. Incisive but with grand cru heft and richness. A distinctive wine drinking at a youthful peak.
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6/24/2015 - Alex G. Likes this wine:
Singing from the first pour, this is at peak. Rich, dense, excellent minerality. Clearly a well stored bottle.
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1/22/2015 - KoalaHK wrote:
Drunk at Amuse Bouche - 22/1/2015 - No trace of 'premox' here. An extremely enjoyable wine that had acid and weight. This wine definitely delivers on the promise suggested by the nose.
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9/23/2013 - johnh1001 wrote: 95 Points
Really remarkable wine. I immediately thought this was Coche from the nose. Rich, full, broad and creamy on the palate. Love the butter notes. Long finish.
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9/28/2012 - TOTOM wrote: 94 Points
10 sec. Finish
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7/11/2012 - dicehk wrote: 90 Points
Tasted along side its nephew, Olivier Leflaive Criots-Batard Montrachet 1997. It was interesting how two Domaines situated close to each other and held by seperate family members could be so different.
The Domaine Leflaive tasted very well. Although 97 was not the best of years, this wine has held well and had been stored in extremely well. The wine poured still retained a light crisp yellow hue (the Criots-Batard has already evolved to a deeper yellow with pinkish hues). Initial bouquet retained apples and pears and the palate reminded of butter scotch and minerals. Should still evolve well.
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12/15/2011 - kevincheng Likes this wine: 92 Points
Creamy yellow/orange colour with an almost syrupy texture. Nose of butter, nuts, cream and citrus and a nice palate of toasted bread, and grapefruit with a touch of minerality. Very enjoyable for a wine of this vintage.
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12/5/2011 - lepetitchateau wrote: 91 Points
Nose is becoming secondary from this jeroboam - it is clean but becoming cystalized. The age is showing on the palate too, but it had retained its sweetness and nice biting acid structure. Perfectly enjoyable but I would not seek this out, even in this larger format.
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1/28/2011 - dgerst wrote: 93 Points
Classic Leflaive aromas of gunflint, matchstick. Very smooth, rich and buttery, a little too fat for my taste, but some minerals and density. Finish somewhat lacking.
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4/8/2010 - anonymoose12345 wrote: 88 Points
Still has great fruit, nice and bright, well rounded.
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12/31/2004 - Will wrote:
with risotto (parmesan+black truffles) -- although the vintage is clearly not the best of last century, this wine didn't fail to deliver. The nose showed, among other usual suspects, toasted bread and butter -- toasted bread was the dominating aroma. Full and more mineral in the mouth, very long and balanced finish. Very good wine.
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