Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1 Cru Clavoillon 2016

The 2016 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon is already quite expressive, wafting from the glass with pretty aromas of pear, wheat toast, peaches and honeycomb, with citrus top notes on the upper register. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, elegantly textural and pure, with ripe acids and a surprisingly open-knit profile, falling a little short on the finish. This is a delicious bottle of white Burgundy, but it doesn’t seem to possess the concentration and cut of a great vintage.

My first ever visit to Domaine Leflaive was in 1997, my first ever in the strangest of places called Burgundy. My memories are vague, but it might well have been my first ever visit to the wine region — back then playing second fiddle to all-conquering Bordeaux. Burgundy was for those that could not afford Bordeaux at a time when Bordeaux was actually affordable. I think I met Anne-Claude briefly on that occasion, just to say hello, but it was somebody else dipping pipette into barrel. Some 18 years later, and this is the first time that I have visited the domaine, and the matriarch has gone. I cannot deny that it is strange, like visiting a house when the owners are out. Of course, they are not. I am met my Brice de la Morandie, one of many shareholders in the estate, the one who has grabbed hold of the tiller after Anne-Claude’s untimely passing last year. He cuts a very different figure: sartorially immaculate in tweed jacket, handkerchief neatly folded into breast pocket, cutting the figure of a businessman as well as winemaker (and there is nothing wrong with that). I am here to assess the wines and he is probably here to assess me and doubtless, other importers and scribes that will visit over the next couple of months.

GRAPE VARIETY: Chardonnay

WINE MAKING: Biodynamic.

Manual harvesting with grape sorting and optimisation of choice of date through parcel-by-parcel ripeness monitoring.