Clavoillon Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Chardonnay

Gorgeous wine! Elegant, satiny and detailed with a beautiful bread dough, orange blossom and citrus-spice aromatic core and a chiseled, textured palate with racy and zesty lemony acids driving all of its flavors home. Going to age perfectly. 🙌🏻

An absolute classic Clavoillon in this exceptional vintage. It’s gorgeous tonight, elegant, satiny and detailed with citrus, spice and vanilla inflicted aromatics and a polished, deep and refined palate with layered minerality and racy lemony acids. Last sips were the best.

Light and bright and focused. Mercifully not prem-oxed. Limpid oyster shells and gentle lemon. Not too intense. Pretty.

Presented to me double-blind at Tasting Group. The wine is a pale straw color with a silvery, watery rim. No signs of particles or gas. Medium+…actually closer to high viscosity. She thicc! On the nose, the wine is extremely expressive. Initially, I’m hit with a walk-in fridge of yellow flowers. There are muskmelons, cantaloupe and squishy, tropical fruit like a pineapple that’s been left on the counter for a week too long. Some fresh snap peas too, just for good measure. Minerals come across like crushed cinderblock. The wine was cold and somewhat difficult for me to assess if there was any use of oak but I was leaning towards, no. On the palate, the wine is dry with tremendous acid; easily in the medium++/high acid category. Here, I get mostly citrus fruit and very tart, tropical fruit similar to star fruit and maybe a little bit of underripe kiwi fruit. The minerals come across more chalky. And there’s a textural element that I’m getting that is beginning to confuse me. This was a gorgeous wine. I was absolutely in the Old World, even though this was very well endowed with fruit. I was between Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc or Riesling from Burgundy (Chablis), the Loire (Vouvray & Sancerre), and Mosel respectively…but nothing made me feel really confident. I was starting to lean GC Chablis…but instead, I went with my old nemesis, Sancerre (which has dinged me so many times in the past), 2020 vintage; from a world class producer. I didn’t really like the call the moment I said it and…well…shit. To be fair, this is my first time with this wine and had no idea the acid could be so high from Chardonnay. As time went by and the wine warmed in my glass, the oak became more apparent. I learned something today; to pay attention to those textural clues that point to malolactic fermentation and oak…even when the wine is served cold. Ultimately, this is a stunning wine and I would love to try this again with some years of cellar time. Drink now if you want to strip the enamel off your teeth and experience the fireworks of its youth or you can hold and enjoy over the next two decades.

Aromas of citrus blossom, acacia and honey were immediately revealed

The palate offered lemon merengue, orange marmalade and ricola with some vanillin and spice present on the lengthy finish

Good focus up front with a vibrant energetic midpalate ~ and over time sea shells, salinity and minerality unfolded

In Short this is a very pretty wine in a lovely spot and perfect for warm weather consumption

For me the 2017 vintage marked Leflaive’s return to stardom, after (arguably) 2004. I can’t believe this is the warm 2018. It’s stunningly elegant, finessed and pure with zero fat or potential “blockiness” of some 2018 white burgs. It’s layered with gorgeous perfumed aromatics of citrus blossoms, lilies, stone fruit, exotic spice and the perfect amount of reduction we love. The palate has killer tension, vibrancy, racy lemony acids and a lovely texture that gives way to its focused, spice tinged and persistent finish. So good!

Showing much better than the last time I had this bottle. Its bouquet is very attractive wafting white flowers, baking spice, yellow fruit and just a touch of smoky reduction. The palate doesn’t have the best focus, but there’s just enough vibrancy and lift to keep it from being too flabby. 2014 shows the plot better but 2015 is definitely starting to come around nicely.

Canary gold. Young and vibrant. Petrol-infused nose. Lots of lemon, wet stone, spice and white flower. Lots of acidity present. A bit of match stick. Good stuff.

Leflaive Clavoillon 2014- Popped and poured without decant. Opens up beautifully in the glass over the course of the meal to show fantastic balance, tension and minerality to complement its creamy texture, lemony acidity and stone fruit expression. A great Clavoillon!

Delicate and precise. Light, some sweet lemon, chalkiness. Open and pretty.