Les Pucelles Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Chardonnay

Glorious wine

Another prem-oxed Leflaive. Just unbelievable. Grrrr.

While 05-16 may not be my favorite era of Leflaive (08 & 14 excluded), tonight 2013 is excellent, exceeding expectations and still markedly youthful. It’s rich, mineral and incisive with fantastic depth and layers, wafting waves of yellow orchard fruit, lilies, toasted sesame and lemon zest. The palate is deep and full bodied with piercing citrusy acids and a long mineral and saline finish. When Leflaive hits it hits 🤩

Mid Gold in colour. Aromatics of yellow flowers and developed honeycomb notes. The medium bodied palate shows lovely yellow peach - great drinking at 14 years, but, splitting hairs here, would’ve had more energy a couple of years ago. Developing that aged lactic note and slightly syrupy on the palate. Mineral and saline notes at the end. The following night it was quite a rich concentrated, almost buttery Chardonnay. Back Story: “Les Pucelles” literally The Maidens is among the finest of Puligny’s premier cru vineyards. It is adjacent to Batard Montrachet and makes a wine of nearly equal concentration. One of the “1001 Wines”.

Lovely. Bright and d lifted with floral notes, limestone, a tiny hint of mint. Flint edges. Gorgeous and pure and precise. Long and pretty.

Yellow fruit with lime and steel. Pretty floral notes with the tiniest hint of sherry. Fresh and dynamic and long. Very good.

Decanted for a few hours and taken to Kochi in Hells Kitchen. Light straw color. Vibrant and viscous in the glass. Old Leflaive petrol and reductive nose. Notes of citrus fruit, lemon crème, wet stones, petrol, tan spice, hazelnut and white flowers. Good balance of rich fruit with still strong acidity. Long finish. Bottles this fresh easily have a decade or more of pleasure in front of them. At peak but still has plenty to give.

Tasted blind. Light gold color. Fruit forward nose, almost tropical. Notes of green apple and orchard fruits, wet river stone, apricot, white flowers. Notably younger in its evolution than the first two bottles today, with a slightly lower heaviness and depth. I go with a guess of 2000 Leflaive Pucelles. Nice to see a young 02 Leflaive sans premox, with a lot of upside in front of it. 94+

Taken to Bywater. Medium gold color..nice weight. Has a slightly oxidized nose at first, but that goes away as the wine gets some air in the decanter. Fruit forward nose. Notes of apricot, Meyer lemon, hazelnut, tan spice and some river stones. Good structure, maybe lacking some energy. Nice showing but given the trajectory I’m happy with drinking my last bottle of this.

Bright and fresh. Light and clear citrus with slate and lime. Structured and deft. Delicious