Domaine Leflaive is one of the world’s great wine domains, producing some of Burgundy’s most sought-after white wines. The Leflaive family Domaine has a history dating back to 1717 and has 23 hectares of holdings spread throughout Grand Cru, 1er Cru, Village, and AOC level vineyards around Puligny.
The Domaine gained its prominence in the hands of Anne-Claude Leflaive, who converted the vineyards to biodynamics in the 1990s giving the wines greater transparency in their expression of terroir. Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet is a small grand cru climat on the southwestern slopes of the Montrachet hill in Burgundy's Côte de Beaune subregion. It is planted entirely to Chardonnay, making rich, plump white wines that, while not quite as prestigious as the wines from the nearby Montrachet vineyard, are still some of the most sought-after and highly-priced wines in the world. Leflaive has a single plot totalling 2.84 acres, with vines planted in 1958 & 1959.
The Bienvenues have retained a rewarding freshness, with a forward fruit that has both tropical and citrus elements and plenty of floral notes. The texture is lively but supple; there is plenty of fresh acidities that bring pleasant energy to the wine. This should age for decades to come.
Here the equally beautiful nose is quite similar to that of the Pucelles save for being much more restrained. Cool, pure, and almost painfully intense flavours possess the same sleek, sophisticated and graceful texture as well as even better persistence on the youthfully austere, compact, and wonderfully complex finale. This is a stunner of a Bienvenues.