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Chevalier-Montrachet 2005

Domaine Leflaive, Burgundy, France

Domaine Leflaive
Burgundy France
  • 97
    Points
  • The 801 best
    of 3 290 954
    wines globally
  • 7 Pros of
    7 recommend
    this wine
100 97
  • Taste
  • Moment

  • Country ranking ?

    689

  • Producer ranking ?

    18

  • Decanting time

    -

  • When to drink

    2020-2035

  • Food Pairing

    Salads

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The Story

The Grand Cru Chevalier Montrachet sits high on the hillside overlooking Le Montrachet, Bâtard Montrachet and the village of Puligny Montrachet far below. 

As a leader of biodynamic viticulture, Domaine Leflaive is renowned for the attention to detail and care that goes in to nourishing each vine from ground to bottle. This organic method of cultivation enriches the soil with plant-based compounds, thus sparing the vines of harmful herbicid...

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Vintage 2005

2005 VINTAGE in Burgundy / Hopes made way for certainty.

2005 promises to produce outstanding whites, with elegance and opulence beyond the norm, and superb, seductive and well-structured red wines.

The richness of these wines perfectly expresses the diversity of the region. A wine of excellent quality is achieved above all through the ripeness and healthiness of the grapes. For this reason, thanks to the almost ideal climatic conditions...

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Tasting note

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Written Notes

Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet 2005 A lunch at Alto in Brizzy (usually deservedly chockers but on this day, sadly deserted as no one yet back into riverside restaurants after our floods but one is keen to help local businesses and if it means drinking wines like this, so be it) with some mates saw a few really nice wines hit the table. I was especially delighted when this emerged as they have been my all time fave white Burg producer for many, many years. There was possibly a dip in quality a while back but they are right on song these days, and for some time. I remember the '82 and '83 of this wine. Both monumental. And a good friend showed me a little trick (it is hard to do for several reasons as will become obvious). Drink half the glass and then put the rest aside for 3-4 hours (we decanted this bottle which helps perform a similar function). It is amazing how a superb white wine can become something truly mindboggling, with that time – I dread to think of the massive number of bottles that have gone to their graves without revealing their best. Ditto with any Montrachet you are lucky enough to find. It is hard to do as obviously, one wants to drink the thing, not have it sit there for hours. Also, one has to watch that a waiter doesn't top it up with something else (still remember a blend of Rousseau Clos St Jacques and Warre's vintage port – not half bad but neither as good as if they had remained separate) or even worse, take it away thinking you have finished. And before we get onto the wine itself, one thought. I know that Montrachet reigns supreme in the minds of white Burg lovers but for me, Leflaive’s Chevalier is the equivalent of almost anyone else's Montrachet (and be careful of those tricky spell check machines – tried to turn my Leflaive into a laxative). The wine itself. Truly stupendous. Unbelievably complex – you could eat it. Layered flavours of oatmeal, honey, peaches, cream, matchstick, a little wet stone and much more. Finely balanced but what was astonishing was the incredible length of the finish. Taste it for days. And not only that, the wine retained amazing intensity throughout. A little more age might just nudge it up a point. 99
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  • 99p

Full yellow with a gold tinge. Very ripe aromas of dried yellow stone fruits, pineapple and chalky minerality. Then round, silky and seamless, offering lovely integrated acidity but relying even more on its minerality for balance (Morandière described this wine as "a less extreme version of the 2015"). At once tactile and smooth but still backward, offering mouthfilling flavors of apricot, citrus fruits and acacia flower that gained in depth as the wine took on oxygen. A very rich style but without any easy sweetness, this wine may well enjoy a 30-year lifespan. (13.7% alcohol; 3.22 pH; the harvest began on September 16 but the Chevalier-Montrachet came in on the 20th after a few days with a north wind that concentrated sugars and acids; still, this was a drought year with a blockage of maturity, according to Brice de la Morandière)

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  • 95p

Broad, suave, and silky-textured, this is a medium-bodied wine with considerable depth and length. Its flavor profile, dominated by spicy minerals as well as pears, is engaging and expressive.

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  • 94p

Served blind. Towards lemon yellow. Minerals, flint, butter, lemons, elegant nose, lovely. Fresh acidity, elegant, fresh, some nuts, lemons, quite intense and fairly nuanced, detailed and long. I was on 2004 Leflaive Bienvenues. 95

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  • 94p
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Information

Origin

Beaune, Burgundy

Other wines from this producer

Bâtard-Montrachet

Bienvenue-Batard-Montrachet

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Corton-Charlemagne

Macon-Verze Les Chenes

Montrachet

Puligny Montrachet

Puligny-Montrachet

Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon

Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes

Puligny-Montrachet, Clavoillon 1er Cru

Puligny Montrachet Les Folatieres

Puligny-Montrachet Pucelles

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