Puligny-Montrachet Olivier Leflaive 1996

Lot presentation

Puligny-Montrachet Olivier Leflaive 1996

The wine

This Puligny-Montrachet is the fruit of responsible Chardonnay-growing by Olivier Leflaive. The vines are around 35 years old and enjoy a soil rich in chalk and clay with pebbles. The grapes are harvested by hand and thoroughly sorted before being pressed pneumatically at the winery. For vinification, 30% of the grapes are whole and 70% trodden. The wine is matured in oak casks (20% new wood) for 17 months.
This wine can be enjoyed within its first ten years. The estate’s landmark cuvée, it develops a pale, golden hue and a distinguished bouquet marked by notes of citrus and toasted hazelnut. It is lively on the palate with an elegant, persistent character. We recommend savouring this wine with a delicate dish involving fish, white mushrooms, or goats’ cheese.

About the Producer Olivier Leflaive

A figurehead for Patrimonio, and one of the most charismatic Corsican winegrowers, Antoine Arena produces wines of extraordinary precision. He has managed the property since 1980 (which originally only consisted of three hectares of vines) and was joined by his sons Jean-Baptiste and Antoine-Marie in 2004. The vineyard now covers 11 hectares, with red (Nielluccio) and white grapes (Vermentino, Bianco Gentile and Muscat à Petits Grains for the sweet wines). No chemical fertilizers or herbicides are used; and in the winery, the most natural techniques possible are employed. The Arena''s philosophy, besides the careful observation and ploughing of the soil, is to bring out the best in their terroir; to accomplish this, a plot by plot approach is taken. The vineyard is managed according to biodynamic principles and has AB organic certification.