2018 Puligny-Montrachet Village

I met proprietor Brice de la Morandière with winemaker Pierre Vincent , who joined in 2017 from Domaine de la Vougeraie, at their barrel cellar in Puligny-Montrachet. It was nice to return having not visited for a year or two. "It was a warm year," de la Morandière commented. "The crucial decision was that we green harvested all the vineyards in July, sometimes up to 40% of the bunches. I know that this is considered a sin in Puligny-Montrachet, but the fact is that we had two or three times more bunches than we needed. This risked us losing concentration. We commenced the harvest on 26 August and finished on September, the Mâcon-Verze picked from 3 to 10 September. In the end, we found that the balance was good in terms of alcohol and acidity." I was pleased to taste Leflaive's Mâconnais wines - they are often overshadowed by their Pulignys and might well constitute their best values. The standout for me was their stunning Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes, in no small part since it was affected by millerandage and this naturally seems to have concentrated the wine. Among the Grand Crus, the Chevalier-Montrachet predictably has the edge, though do not overlook their rather splendid Bienvenue-Bâtard-Montrachet.