Leflaive Chevalier Montrachet Grand Cru 2012 750ml

Burghound.com/ Tasted: Jun 15, 2014
A trace of reduction detracts only marginally from the appeal of the otherwise pretty and mildly exotic aromas of acacia blossom, pear, mandarin orange and wet stone aromas. The delicious, gorgeously elegant and pure imposingly-scaled flavors possess a silky palate impression on the concentrated, explosive and stunningly long finish that seems to be composed of liquid rock and a very firm spine of citrus-inflected acidity. This is a very big, indeed even huge Chevalier that is overtly powerful and one that should age effortlessly for decades. In sum this is an old school vintage for the Leflaive Chevalier so I would suggest buying it only with the clear intention of cellaring it for the long-term.

Domaine Leflaive is the most famous estate in Puligny-Montrachet. Anne-Claude Leflaive became co-gérant of this famous Puligny domaine in 1990 - she move towards an organic approach to her vineyards.
After seven years of experiments, with one third of the domaine biodynamic and two thirds organic, the whole domaine was converted to biodynamic farming in 1997, following in the footsteps of Lalou Bize-Leroy and Nicolas Joly.
Leflaives have been extant in Puligny since 1717 but the real founder of the domaine was Joseph (1870-1953) who was succeeded by two of his sons, Vincent and Jo. Responsibility in today’s generation was at first shared by cousins Olivier and Anne-Claude Leflaive, with the latter taking sole responsibility from 1994. The domaine will lose Olivier’s share of the vineyards from 2009.
Leflaive has 22 hectares of vineyards, including 10 hectares of Premiers Crus (in Puligny Montrachet: Les Combettes, Les Pucelles, Les Clavoillons, Les Folatieres/Les Chalumeaux and in Blagny: Sous le Dos d'Ane) and no fewer than 5 hectares of Grands Crus (Chevalier Montrachet, Batard Montrachet, Bienvenues Batard Montrachet).

Meats, Chicken and Turkey