Olivier Leflaive White Burgundy

I’ve attended wine tastings, but never one conducted over the Internet. Frederick Wildman, wine merchants in New York who invited me to a Trapiche tasting previously, added me to the shortlist recently to sample a variety of high-end white burgundies from a premier winery. Olivier Leflaive set up his winery in 1984, and through the past three decades has seemingly refined his ability to bring out the best in his Chardonnay grapes, expanding his holdings through the years to cover many villages and appellations in France to produce a wide range of high-end Burgundies. The evening tasting covered white Burgundies, although Olivier Leflaive produces notable reds as well.

Four wines were delivered prior to the event. While all the literature and conversation implied “samples” of the four wines of the evening, what arrived were four regular-sized (750ml) bottles of wine. Insanely generous. The four bottles originated in the villages of Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, and Mersault. While Patrick Leflaive, co-owner of Domaine Olivier Leflaive Freres, mentioned that Mersault had a better 2008, frankly, while there is obvious variation among the wines, I’d be hard-pressed to tell you that any of these wines were not worth their price tags.

We started the evening’s tastings by watching Patrick talk to us via the web. The evening was, as you might expect, very informal, as a few dozen wine tasters listened on from home and pseudo-Tweeted comments and questions via website. Though Olivier Leflaive has grown to 800,000 bottles of wine produced last year, they only own 35 acres of grapevines; they buy grapes from many other small wineries in the region to create their wines.

The first two wines are from similar regions, close together. The Puligny-Montrachet — the winery’s village, incidentally — matures in 100% French oak barrels (20% new oak) for around ten months, while the Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos St. Marc stays on oak for twelve months. There’s “no rush”, as Patrick mentioned, as malolactic fermentation happens when it happens and all they can do is wait. The 2008 vintage was a particularly good one for the winery.

The Puligny-Montrachet 2008 ($57 retail from Frederick Wildman). Note its beautiful color.

This wine blends from up to twelve different farms in Puligny-Montrachet to achieve the wine for which they strive. Puligny-Montrachet soil is more limestone, less clay, than the neighboring Chassagne-Montrachet, which serves to point out the differences in aroma and flavor caused by a mere 3-4 kilometers. This wine has aromas of tropical fruit like pineapple, honeysuckle and almond. In the mouth, the wine tastes powerfully alcoholic (it’s 13% abv) if a little bit on the thin side, but no matter: the sharp acidity draws on the patience to let this wine sit a little longer. There are notes of chlorophyll — think fresh grass — with the attendant flavors corresponding to the aromas.

The Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru “Clos St. Marc” ($90) also shows off what can best be described as a young, very young flavor profile. Even more so than the Puligny-Montrachet, this wine really, really needs a few more years in the bottle before it’s ready to be enjoyed to its fullest. As one commenter noted, “see you in 2020!”

The Clos St. Marc expresses a far more rounded nose than its cousin, with ripe stone fruit (pear, maybe a little peach) coupled with tropical fruit aromas and a little lemon, with some grassiness present. However, upon tasting it there’s a lot of acid toward the back of the palate — some might call that “intensity” — a current of alcohol (13.5%), and a little of the citrus and tropical blend. But not much. Patrick noted that this wine could easily go another 9-10 years in the bottle before hitting its peak, and I’m inclined to believe that.

The Mersault region had a very good 2010, and while the wines we drank from this region were a 2008 and a 2007, I can honestly say I’m greatly anticipating what’s to come.

The standard Mersault ($52) is created from the grapes of over fifteen growers, and unlike the other wines, this one is instantly approachable. It doesn’t need another five years.

My one-word summary for this wine was “succulent.” There’s citrus, to be sure, but also peppery spice, a little tobacco, but also a well-rounded, honeyed, even nutty quality to this wine. Sure, the alcohol (13%) is a little raw, but it goes well here and is for the most part counteracted every step.

The star of the evening, at least from an anticipatory standpoint, had to be the Mersault 1er Cru Charmes ($103). All four wines were bottled in February or March of this year, so as this was the lone 2007 among 2008 vintages, it obviously spent a little more time aging. Yet it did not pick up a massive buttery character from that; the winemaker likes to say it’s the soil, rich in clay, that gives the Mersault wines this aroma and flavor, and maybe that’s why it wasn’t such a turnoff to this wine.

I picked up a big passion fruit nose, with some floral notes and just a little buttery. Tasting the Charmes brought forth a highly acidic wine, very flowery, with a some peach flavors, honey, and the aforementioned butter hidden fairly deep. There’s a bit of minerally, not really salty but similar quality to this wine too. Through all that, the alcohol (13.5%) remained firmly hidden, and the wine, far from showcasing the earlier flavors, instead finished clean and clear.

Full disclosure: I have to admit that once the wine was delivered, I felt a little concerned. After all, here I’ve been gifted with several hundred dollars in wine — granted, I was only going to drink a quarter of it fresh, the night of the tasting, and the rest later in the week, but still, it was extraordinarily lavish. But Patrick Leflaive was charming, the staff at Frederick Wildman kept things loose and interesting from their offices, and the wine was in perfect condition. If I had to pick favorites, the Mersaults would be 1 and 2, but all four wines showed me very good structure and hinted at what could be in a few years. My order would undoubtedly change in a couple of years.

If you have the means, or a white Burgundy lover’s birthday is coming up, I do recommend these wines without hesitation. On my budget they really don’t work for everyday purchase, but special occasions? Yes, definitely! I thoroughly enjoyed this peek into a French winery and the means by which they produce andship wines of such quality. Many thanks again.

Again, many thanks to the people at Frederick Wildman and at Olivier Leflaive Freres