Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Le Clavoillon 2010

95 points, “A taut, nervy, mineral-driven wine, this has intense citrus and grapefruit flavours, lemongrass spice and just the merest hint of wood. It’s the structure that gives this impressive wine such power.” – Wine Enthusiast

Domaine Leflaive’s Le Clavoillon is a rare beauty, because so few growers farm this plot. It’s a stunning Premier Cru Chardonnay renowned for hedonistic character, but it gets too often overlooked, perhaps because of its rarity or because it’s located a little further from the neighbouring Grand Cru sites. Either way, it’s a wine that’s not to be missed.

Organic, biodynamic and iconic, Domaine Leflaive is the doyen of Puligny-Montrachet producing “the kind of wine that should be delivered by Grace Kelly” according to the Wall Street Journal. The attention to detail invested in these Chardonnays “set standards for white Burgundy that few other estates can approach”, and in the words of Wine Advocate: “If you do not like Leflaive’s wines, then you do not like white Burgundy.”

It's an extraordinary treat to come across an older vintage like this. Displaying Leflaive’s signature purity, this Puligny-Montrachet is simply sensational, presenting notes of lemon zest, peach, apricot, nectarine, spice, beeswax, apple, blossom, blanched almonds, vanilla and jasmine tea. Sappy, complex, deeply decadent and smooth as satin, this is Chardonnay at its very best. Or as James Halliday says: “utterly classical.”