Winemaker Notes
With ownership of over 85% of the climat and only one other family vinifying the Premier Cru Clavoillon, Domaine Leflaive controls the destiny of the name. Situated just north of Les Pucelles, this wine could have had a better fate if the vineyard wasn’t planted to Pinot Noir for hundreds of years before phylloxera impacted the region. It is only in the early 20th century that it was replanted, and this time with Chardonnay.
Blend: 100% Chardonnay
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Vibrant yet shows some weight, with a creamy texture enveloping flavors of vanilla, buttery croissant, lime blossoms and hazelnut.
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Decanter
This emblematic premier cru is a lovely introduction to Domaine Leflaive, with hints of passionfruit, pomelo, coconut milk, spice and smoke. The texture is lush with extract, but there is enough acidity to bring everything into balance. Although this 2022 doesn’t show the same intensity or concentration of the other premier cru wines, the combination of ripe fruit and smoky reductive notes make it a tempting wine for mid-term cellaring.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon unwinds in the glass with a gently reductive bouquet of pear, sweet citrus zest, wet stones and wheat toast. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and racy, it's bright and saline, with a long, penetrating finish.
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Jasper Morris
Light lemon colour. Attractively floral, then a similar little wash of line. This is light on its feet, has the required density without an especial weight, with a pleasing length of finish.
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Vinous
The 2022 Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles 1er Cru has a subtle menthol note in the background, indicative of the concentration bestowed by the growing season. There's a hint of exoticism, yet it doesn't overwhelm the terroir expression. The palate is fresh and vibrant, with a wonderful umami sensation and razor-sharp acidity (incredible in a warm vintage). It is harmonious with a lightly spiced finish and traces of Vervane and white pepper on the aftertaste.
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.