Domaine Leflaive Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru 2017
- Decanter
-
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Decanter
Bienvenues is generally less powerful than Bâtard at Leflaive, and that's certainly the case here. But what this impressive grand cru lacks in terms of weight, it more than makes up for with precision. Tangerine and pink grapefruit flavours segue into a fresh, textured finish embellished by oak.
-
James Suckling
Ripe-pear and intensely flinty aromas mingle in the nose of this youthful white Burgundy. Powerful tannin structure on the sleek and very focused palate with delicate candied orange on the creamy mid-palate. Then radical minerality bursts out at the very concentrated and long finish. From bio dynamically grown grapes. Drinkable now, but best from 2023.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Like the Pucelles, the 2017 Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru is quite tensile and reserved, unfurling in the glass with aromas of green orchard fruit, iodine, orange rind and creamy new wood. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, textural and fleshy, but taut—even firm—at the core, with good concentration, tangy acid and a bright, chalky finish. Like all these releases, I'm looking forward to seeing it from bottle.
Barrel Sample: 93-95
Other Vintages
2021-
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker
-
Jasper
Morris -
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker
- Decanter
-
Robert
Parker -
Jasper
Morris -
Wine
Spectator
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
The roots of the Leflaive family go back to 1717 when Claude Leflaive took up residence in Puligny-Montrachet, intent upon cultivating several acres of vineyards. The domaine, in its present form, was created by Joseph Leflaive between the years of 1910-1930, as a result of his successive purchases of vineyards and houses. Domaine Leflaive has been entirely a family domaine since its creation. Brice de La Morandière, great-grandson of the founder, Joseph Leflaive, represents the fourth generation at the head of the domaine. In 2015, after an international corporate career, he succeeded Anne-Claude, pioneer in biodynamics. It is with the same philosophy of respect for the great terroirs, humility toward the forces of nature and relentless pursuit of excellence in viticulture and in winemaking that the domaine will continue to grow in the future.
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.