2023 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru "Clavoillon"

Aromas of white peach, toasted nuts, struck match and baking spices preface the 2023 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon, a medium- to full-bodied, satiny wine with good mid-palate density, bright acids and chalky structuring extract. It's a strong performance for this vineyard, celebrated in the 19th century for its red wines but long since consecrated to Chardonnay. The modern history of Domaine Leflaive began when Joseph Leflaive, a former naval engineer, began acquiring vineyards in 1905 amid low prices following the phylloxera epidemic. From 1920, under legendary régisseur François Virot, the domaine was replanted with adapted rootstocks, expanded its holdings and shifted toward domaine bottling. From 1953, Vincent Leflaive took the reins; and in 1990, his daughter, Anne-Claude, took charge, initiating biodynamic trails, with full conversion by the late 1990s. Brice de La Morandière directs the estate today, with Amandine Brillanceau as the new technical director since January 2025. This tasting, however, looked at the penultimate vintage vinified by outgoing winemaker Pierre Vincent, who had worked at Leflaive since 2016: the 2023s. From bottle, these have turned out very nicely, with several cuvées matching the quality of their 2022 counterparts. The style is more outgoing, with fleshy fruit in the foreground, and all the wines appear likely to offer broad drinking windows. As usual, élevage began with a year in barrel (from a variety of coopers, including Séguin