2022 Bourgogne Blanc

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.

Since last year, Domaine Leflaive are no longer showing their vintage in barrel and are pouring the latest bottled vintage instead. I meet with winemaker Pierre Vincent and estate manager Brice de La Morandière, who has been instrumental in salvaging their reputation threatened by a disproportionately high incidence of premature oxidation. His decision to introduce Diam closures is one that I heartily applaud, as well as recruiting Vincent, one of the most talented winemakers operating in Burgundy. “We started the harvest in 2020 on 20 August - the earliest harvest ever,” Vincent tells me. “There was no frost, and of course, it was a warm and dry year with little rain. The yield was normal, around 10% less. There was a heat wave at the end of July, but there was rain on 12 August that relieved the stress, so there was no blocked maturity. In terms of hygiene, it was optimal. The alcohol is around 13%, lower than in 2019.”

It is a couple of years since I was at Domaine Leflaive. I met winemaker Pierre Vincent and proprietor Brice de la Morandière staring at a barren square of land in the heart of Puligny-Montrachet, which is where, after some unavoidable delays, they will soon construct their new winery. Here, I tasted the 2019 vintage in bottle and will broach the 2020s early next year, Domaine Leflaive’s policy henceforth. “It was a year with a small frost,” Vincent explained. “June was cold with some rain, so this disturbed the flowering with a lot of millerandage. The second part of June, July and August was hot and warm, with just some rain between August 10 and 15 that helped finish the maturity. It was the millerandé bunches that created the concentration, as there was 20% less fruit. We picked from September 11 for the Puligny-Montrachet. All the wines are between 13.5° to 14.5° alcohol but with a pH not more than 3.10 after malolactic. It was a warm growing season with two heat waves, but the wines feel like they come from a normal season. Biodynamics helps us keep the balance in the vine – for example, by making the roots go deeper, preserving the canopy and preventing grillure because the sap continues to flow in difficult conditions. The vines remain more vigorous as they suffer less hydric stress. We bottle using Diam 30 for all markets." This is a deeply impressive set of wines that I believe are enhanced by Vincent’s magic touch. From the Village Cru up to the Montrachet (the first time I have tasted it at the domaine, thanks to Coravin) there is spine-tingling precision and freshness that leaves you with a Cheshire cat grin. And I fully support their move to Diam. I wish more wineries of their standing would follow suit.

Both estate director Brice de la Morandière and winemaker Pierre Vincent consider 2016 to be a cooler year without a lot of exotic character. Grape sugars were in the reasonable 12% to 13% range (a bit lower than in 2017), and some of the less-ripe fruit got a touch of chaptalization. The 2016 grand crus were still in tank, awaiting imminent bottling, at the time of my visit on the last day of May.

Estate Manager Eric Remy has one of the sharpest memories of anyone I have ever met. His recall of specific dates and events is quite remarkable, so I will take advantage of that in reporting a very complete picture of the 2010 growing season. Accoring to Remy, in order to gain some insight on 2010, one has to start with the brutal frost of December 19, 2009, when temperatures dropped to a bone chilling -20C/-4F after having hovered around freezing for a few days prior. The very next day, temperatures shot up to 10C/50F. January was quite dry. A bit of snow fell in early February, but the rest of the month was dry. The last frosts at the domaine were recorded from March 10-14. The weather improved in April, especially towards the end of the month. May and June were cold. Flowering in the domine's vineyards started on June 5th and ended between June 20 and 22. The first part of July was hot but stable, while the second part of the month was cold and humid. Unstable conditions persisted throughout August. A hailstorm with heavy thunder in Santenay on September 12 was a sign harvest time was approaching. A bit of botrytis was recorded on September 17. The harvest started on September 20. Yields came in around 45 hectoliters per hectare, pretty much in line with 2009, the only domaine I visited where that is the case.

Domaine Leflaive is one of the pioneers in biodynamic viticulture in Burgundy. The first experiments began in 1990 and by 1997 all of the vineyards had been converted to biodynamic farming. Winemaker Eric Remy describes the 2009 growing season in considerable detail. The winter was long but mild. The last frost occurred on March 23. Temperatures were normal until the last week of the month, when the weather turned warmer. Flowering began on May 22. The rest of the spring and summer were warm, while a big storm in mid-July dropped 8cm of rain. The rest of the summer was quite warm. The harvest began on September 5, about ten days earlier than normal. Average yields were around 45 hectoliters per hectare. The wines were aged for 12 months in oak followed by 6-8 months in steel. New oak ranged from 10% for the Bourgogne, 15% for the villages, 20% for the premier crus and 25% for the grand crus. The 2009s were bottled between April and June 2011.