Some of us attended an amazing 2008 Leflaive tasting last week at The Modern restaurant in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. The winemaker, Eric Remy, was on hand to guide us through the 10 different wines while giving us a thorough explanation of the differences between each appellation and the overall evolution of Domaine Leflaive through the years. Here are my tasting notes:
Bourgogne Blanc - Great minerality, sweet, full and pure with subtle floral and spice flavors. Nice texture but definitely the lightest of the bunch but also the most ready to drink.
Puligny Montrachet - A bit more spicy oak than the Bourgogne Blanc. Classic peach and steely Puligny type flavors. Good balance and length.
Meursault sous le Dos d'Ane - Creamy again with less acidity. Interestingly, this was initially planted as red. More oak, vanilla. Still rockin' minerality. Starts in oak then steel. This is a wine to watch in the future.
Puligny Montrachet Clavoillon - Excellent floral notes on the nose. Honey and smoke. Silky smooth on the palate with a terrifically long finish.
Puligny Montrachet Folatieres - Massive floral nose, with notes of hazelnut and smoky oak. Super explosive and dances across the palate. Laser focused minerality. Tart in just the right way. Oysters please?! This is textbook Puligny Montrachet and the most approachable at the current time.
Puligny Montrachet Combettes - Minerality is much more pronounced on the nose with a flint/slate note. Roasted Nuts and smoky oak. Super dry and tart. Will be a very long lived wine.
Puligny Montrachet Pucelles - Peach and honey on the nose with subtle smoked oak that is more pronounced on the nose. Soft on the palate with a finish that builds. Very nice. Elegant. 59, 65 and 80 year old vines.
Bienvenue Batard Montrachet - Closed but underneath it all you get subtle aromas of white peach and plum with wet stones. Also not giving up everything across the palate yet. Excellent finish though.
Batard Montrachet - Closed as well but you can tell this is going to be a big dog. Loads of minerals on the palate with flintiness. Citrus-type acidity... Grapefruit? Ultra pure and powerful but not displaying what this is going to be yet.
Chevalier Montrachet - Muted and closed. But you get subtle lime and white peach going on. Flavors are sweet and thick with with great underlying acidity. Builds to a very complex finish across the palate. Give it 15 years...
These notes all come across as similar in a lot of ways, but that only lends to the fact that the 2008 vintage for Leflaive is very consistent from the Village wines all the way to the grand Cru.