TN: 2004 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles

• 2004 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru (6/19/2020)
  Leflaive LOVES me …I’ve had nothing but good bottles, except that 07 Meursault yuk, and my luck continues! Almost 7yrs to the day since I last had this wine…starts out with a good dose of protective reduction…wonderful match strike, butter sautéed peaches, fresh squeeze lemon over dried honey, mint, chalk dust nose. All FRESH…no signs of apple juice…and the reduction melds in nicely. Nose translated to the palate…the fruit is pitted orchard…little waxy…nice creamy GC like weight, slight hollow mid. Ample citrus acidity livens…shows spicy honey and smoked white pepper…pretty white flower and peach tree blossom florals…very saline with that wonderful limestone chalk, hazelnuts, and crushed minerals…finishes long and lingering with that honey, smoked white pepper, and barrel spice…wafting subtle reduction and citrus sour…you beg for another sip! This is why we do it! Amazing! (97 pts.)

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Sounds like this has improved, because it was incredibly reduced a decade ago! I always suspected the reduction in the domaine’s 2004s encouraged Anne-Claude in her ambition to further reduce sulfur levels at the domaine.

This bottle reminded me of the 04 Coche CC in the amount of the reduction…substantial at first, just like when you first strike the match…yet subsides and integrates beautifully with some air. I guess the toleration of reduction/sulfur is similar to brett…some people love it, some repulsed? I for one absolutely LOVE reduction in chardonnay…just as long as there is freshness and crispness in the fruit, and transparencies to other components in the wine.

great note.

I remember when 2004s were released and I don’t think its reduction, Buzz. There seemed to be a massive sulfur addition at bottling or prior to bottling that never integrated, to correct something in barrel, hopefully William Kelley chimes in, but I have never gone thru a lineup of more sulfured wines that at the time seemed like they’d be immortal, even the Macon Verze was crazily sulfured.

The issue, as I understood it at the time, was that the domaine had used a sulfur dose in the vineyard shortly before the bunches closed up, fixing the sulfur with talcum powder (not as weird a practice as it sounds). There had been a lot of rain but at this point a drier patch followed, the bunch closed up round the sulfur, trapping it inside. When I tasted the 2004s in barrel they were horribly herbaceous, but not every wine was affected to the same extent. I remember Clavoillon being particularly bad and Pucelles much less affected. Not sure if I still have the original notes tucked away somewhere.

I had some bottles of the 2004 Clavoillon in the cellar for several years and they never became drinkable. I do enjoy the slightly reduced character of the pre-premoxed era of Leflaive quite a bit, but these 04’s were another matter altogether.

That’s my understanding, too, and I remember the 2004 Pucelles as not much better than the Clavaillon: burnt toast and boiled cabbage in 2008, tasted from a dozen bottles opened for a big dinner. I knew much less about wine chemistry then than I do now, but I remember it very vividly.

It’s interesting to hear that the wines have come around because for a long time the 2004 Leflaives were my reference point for excessively reduced white Burgundy.

For me, there’s a place where very light reduction, the varietal character of Chardonnay, and the effects of long sur lie élevage in oak intersect that is very exciting. Personally, I don’t find the “struck match” description very relatable, as to me the aromas of a struck match that prickle in the nostrils are the aromas of sulfur dioxide, rather than the aromas of reduction, so it is not a phrase I routinely use in tasting notes (unless a wine actually smells of sulfur dioxide, which is sometimes the case just after an addition, whether in barrel or at bottling).

Anything that smells overtly of sulfides I am not a huge fan of, though the sort of iodine-like aroma that it seems to resolve into with extended bottle age can be quite pleasant if it’s not too dominating.

I do think a lot of the aromas that people refer to as “reduction” are actually coming from oak and lees. When people taste a tightly wound white Burgundy with very crisp fruit tones and a nutty, smoky aromatic upper-register, they often jump to the conclusion that it’s “good reduction”, but I don’t think it invariably is: it often doesn’t dissipate on contact with copper. Certainly, the wines are not at all oxidative - but equally I don’t think those aromas are coming from sulfides/thiols. In this respect, while e.g. PYCM and Jean-Marc Roulot have produced some reductive cuvées in some vintages, I don’t follow some amateur and professional commentators who identify them as notably reductive producers; and I don’t think that is their intention, either.

In a sense, of course, we are splitting hairs: it’s hard to break down the sources of aromas which intersect (I’ve been writing about Selosse for the last few days and the same applies to the caricature of his wines as “oxidative”, when it’s more complicated than that) and I understand that people are really just using “reduction” as a short hand for certain aromatic signatures rather than making a strong statement about winemaking or wine chemistry.

This comment was interesting as it suggests I have read people wrong for years when they talk of liking reduction in white Burg. I thought they liked the sulfur-compound-based aromatics of young-ish wine that with bottle aging changes or disappears. When I open a bottle of wine with some years on it. assuming no permanent reductive state, I expect and try to give it air to blow off any remaining reductive aromas. If it does not blow off, and I’m patient if I can be (days if by myself), I assume the wine isn’t really ready yet, not that reduction is a permanent characteristic. But I agree a hint of it can be interesting as part of a greater whole.

My benchmark for too much sulfur, and is just outright nasty, is the 2007 Leroy Aligote! Rotten eggs and garbage can! That wine was embalmed. Have you had that?

Buzz, my recent experiences with this wine are consistent with yours. Yes, there is certainly reduction but it’s bearable and at this point the wine is very pleasurable, particularly after decanting it. I’ve had far better premox luck with 04 Leflaive than with 05 or 06 (which was truly disastrous).

That’s interesting, I don’t think I ever tasted the Domaine Leroy Aligoté in 2007, but the Corton-Charlemagne and d’Auvenay Auxey-Duresses are both great! But it’s apposite you bring up Leroy as those are indeed white Burgundies that can be pretty reductive out of the gates, even if that has not been the case for a number of successive vintages now. They always seem to come around if one’s patient enough.

William, I love Jobard, but they are often very reductive when young. Even the Bourgogne Blanc needs 8-10 years, IMO, to be ready to drink.

Marshall, that was true of Francois Jobard, less so with his son Antoine. I think the reason was connected to not settling out any of the solids after pressing, and then a very long time in barrel - 24 months or occasionally more. Plus, it is true, higher sulfur levels than would be used today. Great and undoubtedly phenolic wines made for the long term.

Thanks, Jasper. I used to get to visit on the Kermit buying trip when I was ITB, but haven’t been since 2014. Antoine’s first few vintages seemed just slightly richer (but not in a bad way) than his father’s but the ones I tried were still pretty reduced. At the visits it still seemed like Francois was watching over his son like a proud, respected father. I haven’t tried the recent wines as young…has Antoine changed them much since?

Made the mistake of buying on release a case each of the 04 Leflaive CM, Pucelles and Folatieres. For years the sulfur was unbearable and while they eventually became “drinkable” they never offered any real pleasure. On the bright side my disappointment protected me from experiencing Leflaive’s premox problems over the remainder of that decade, and there’s some comfort in that.