I've been on a mission to clean out my older white burgs this year and this is another one that I uncovered in the orphan bin. Pale gold in the glass with a lot of viscosity. Somewhat restrained nose of lemon oil and roasted pecans with a faint whiff of vanilla. Somewhat thick in the mouth with a mouthcoating thickness however the acid allowed it to cut right through and not become cloying. No signs of oxidation on the palate but a very rich melange of Meyer lemon, hazelnuts and honey. A real zip of acidity finished each taste. The wine changed with every sip but it never lost focus or fruit over the hour that it took to finsih the bottle. A solid "A" on the Dale scale.
1995 Domaine Leflaive Puligny Montrachet les Pucelles
Jan 24, 2007
6 Replies
I just noticed that Leroy was still selling their '97 Bourgogne Blanc (disclaimer...I sell Leroy). I didn't think that it was at the same level as anything that Dom. Leflaive has put out and I'd be surprised if the Leroy wasn't oxidized since I haven't tasted the Leroy in a while. FWIW, I've always been a fan of Olivier Leflaive's wines also but I don't think that they've reached the level of Domaine Leflaive.
I've always thought that well made wines with proper closures stored under proper conditions (55F) can last a long longer than folks assume.
Indeed they can. I'm still working on Jean's willingness to let our GC Chablis age longer, but there's no question that white Burgundies are the longest-aging Chardonnays I know of. However, in case you've missed this, Dale was alluding to the longstanding Internet controversy over whether the white Burgundies made in the mid-'90s (esp. '96) were prematurely oxidizing. Here's a link to the wiki devoted to the subject:
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As you can see, Dom. Leflaive gets a clean bill of health in '95. For the most part, they seem to have avoided the problem, such as it is.
Mark Lipton
As Mark notes I was referrring the rash of oxidation issues specifically in '96 white Burgs, not the age in general.
The Bourgognes I mentioned were the Domaine Leflaive '95 & '96, that I picked up on closeout at $10 (normal price is now north of $30). Maybe the best retail buy I ever made. All gone now- except one bottle that I gave to my brother-in-law. It just sits there (he's one of those "I'll hold tht for a special occasion" folks who I hope drinks it before it IS too old).
I wouldn't chance a '97 Leroy, neither producer nor year is my favorite (once you factor in price). I agree Oliver Leflaive makes nice middle of the road wines, but nowhere near the Domaine Vincent Leflaive level.
"Bi!!" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@m58g2000cwm.googlegroups.com:
Ooh. Those 97 Leroy were (are - ping Dan the Man! some still in Phila!) on closeout here in Pennsylvania, for $17.99. I think I managed to have 6 or
7 bottles, and have 3 more left :)Closest I probably will ever get to the exalted heights ;) :)
(They were pretty good, though the corks were filthy, and the bottles smelled very funky on first pour, that blew off though, and very tasty. Not oxidised, that I could tell.) d.
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