2021 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

I met winemaker Pierre Vincent and proprietor Brice de la Morandière in the early evening to taste through not the 2022s but the 2021s, as they now only show the most recent bottled vintage. “We had frost four times in April, and downy mildew was prevalent, which meant a lot of sorting,” Vincent explains in their nearly finished winery. “We lost 60% of the crop on average and 80% in the worst-affected vintages. We began the picking on September 21 [I should remind readers we are talking about 2021 here!]” We also discussed changes in the modus operandi at Leflaive, which includes using more larger-sized barrels, particularly 350-liter barrels comprising around 40% of the total. De la Morandière also mentioned using ultrasound to clean the barrels so they can be used for longer. There was also an interesting discussion about the recent improvement in the Puligny Combettes. Vincent suggests this was due to them rethinking the sap flow in the vines, enhanced by composting the vineyard and retraining the vines to combat millerandage.