Domaine Leflaive
Clavoillon Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Chardonnay
Puligny-Montrachet, Côte de Beaune, Burgundy, France
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.
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.
Nov 22nd, 2022
