Olivier Leflaive Auxey-Duresses 2003
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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.
Perched in the western uplands alongside the famous Chardonnay-producing village of Meursault, Auxey-Duresses is a small but substantial wine-producing sub-appellation in the Côte de Beaune of Burgundy. Its vineyards cover both sides of the valley (called a combe in French) that cuts through the low hills just west of the lower Côte de Beaune villages of Meursault and Volnay. Cooling winds flow through this basin during the growing season and result in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with a touch of charming rusticity. They are also more approachable in price compared to their Volnay or Meursault counterparts.
The village does include some Premiers Crus vineyards. Les Duresses and Le Climat de Val climb the southeastern slope of the Montagne du Bourdon.