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Wine Description
The Story
Domaine Leflaive is the very summit of white Burgundy, producing outstanding wines that have the capacity to be very long-lived and develop richness, depth, and complexity with bottle-age. The Domaine owns and tends almost 25 hectares of vineyards mainly located in and around Puligny-Montrachet. Their holdings include 0.08 hectares of Le Montrachet, 2 hectares of Chevalier-Montrachet, 1.91 hectares of Bâtard-Montrachet, 1.6 hectares of Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet, and Puligny- Montrachet 1er Crus; Le Clavoillon, Les Combettes, Les Folatières, and Les Pucelles. Domaine Leflaive has been totally biodynamic since 1997. These are some of the most highly sought-after white wines in the world.
Origin / 4 parcels in the Bâtard-Montrachet appellation.
Bâtard 7: 7 ouvrées (0.74 acre) planted in 1974 (commune of Chassagne)
Bâtard 8: 8 ouvrées (0.85 acre) planted in 1979 (commune of Puligny)
Bâtard 9: 9 ouvrées (0.95 acre) planted in 1989 (commune of Chassagne)
Bâtard 21: 21 ouvrées (2.22 acres) planted half in 1962, half in 1964 (commune of Puligny).
Surface: 1ha 91a (4.72 acres).
Method of culture
Long, gentle pneumatic pressing, decanting over 24 hours, thenracking and running into cask of the must.
Alcoholic fermentation in oak casks, 25% new (maxi 1/2 Vosges,
mini 1/2 Allier).
Maturing: after 12 months in cask, the wine is aged 6 months in tank where it is prepared for bottling.
Homeopathic fining and very light filtering if necessary.
Biodynamic.
Manual harvesting with grape sorting and optimisation of choice of date through parcel-by-parcel ripeness monitoring
Wine Information
As in 1989, 1990 was characterised by early growth due to exceptional climatic conditions, comparable to 1941, 1948 and 1961.
Winter was very mild and spring was rainy. Vegetation developed quickly, and the first blossoms appeared on 21 May in the Clavoillon vineyard. The humid and changeable weather during the flowering period brought problems such as "coulure" and "millerandange" (poor fruit set), reducing a harvest that had appeared to be abundant.
Thanks to warm, dry conditions in July and August, the vines benefited from some hundred hours of sunshine more than the average of the previous 40 years. The harvest at Domaine Leflaive started on 19 September. An excellent harvest of healthy grapes with natural degrees of between 12.5° and 14° was brought in.
The acidity, which was even higher than in 1985, gave the wines exceptional balance, and incomparable richness and fruitiness. A classic wine for long bottle ageing, already showing aromas of honey.
One of the great vintages of Domaine Leflaive since 1978.
