Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Vinous
The 2023 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru has a little more intensity on the nose than the Bienvenue with touches of struck flint, cold stone and light Granny Smith scents that are tightly coiled and unfold with aeration. The palate is crisp and taut, much more mineral-driven than the Bienvenue with a really complex and persistent finish that is a joy to behold. This riveted me to the spot, and is one of the finest expressions of this holding that I have encountered in over 25 years of tasting at Leflaive.
-
Wine Spectator
Taut and intense, featuring lime blossom, citronella, oyster shell, hazelnut, vanilla and pastry aromas and flavors, this white is driven by its laserlike acidity. Balanced, with a seemingly endless finish that echoes the complex flavors and leaves you wanting more.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Notes of orange oil, pear and peach mingle with hints of nutmeg, clear honey and buttered toast, introducing Leflaive's 2023 Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru. Full-bodied, dense and blocky, it's broad-shouldered and multidimensional, with an unctuous attack, a deep mid-palate and a broad, expansive finish.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
A source of some of the finest, juicy, silky and elegantly floral Chardonnay in the Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet lies just to the north of Chassagne-Montrachet, a village with which it shares two of its Grands Crus vineyards: Le Montrachet itself and Bâtard-Montrachet. Its other two, which it owns in their entirety, are Chevalier-Montrachet and Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. And still, some of the finest white Burgundy wines come from the prized Premiers Crus vineyards of Puligny-Montrachet. To name a few, Les Pucelles, Le Clavoillon, Les Perrières, Les Referts and Les Combettes, as well as the rest, lie northeast and up slope from the Grands Crus.
Farther to the southeast are village level whites and the hamlet of Blagny where Pinot Noir grows best and has achieved Premier Cru status.