1996 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes

Domaine Leflaive, in Puligny-Montrachet, traces its roots back 2,000 years to vineyards planted during the Roman era. More specifically, the domaine was founded in the 1920s when Joseph Leflaive, an engineer by training, began replanting the family vineyards with improved grape vines. He sold wine to friends and later made it into a business. After his death in 1953 his children ran the estate. The business is still owned and managed by the Leflaive family and its white Burgundies are renowned for their quality. With 58 acres of vineyards planted entirely to Chardonnay, the domaine produces fewer than 4,000 cases of Montrachet annually. Since 1998 Domaine Leflaive has been farmed entirely according to biodynamic principles, which, among other things, means that no pesticides, chemicals or artificial fertilizers of any kind are used.

Les Combettes is a 19.4-acre acre Premier Cru vineyard in the Puligny-Montrachet appellation in Burgundy’s Cote de Beaune. It is on the northern edge of the appellation and borders Meursault. Les Combettes is considered the appellation’s finest Premier Cru, and writer Clive Coates calls Les Combettes “the most complete wine” of the four Premier Cru vineyards in northern Puligny-Montrachet. Les Combettes, he writes, “is a mouthwatering and deliciously elegant combination of Meursault and Puligny, with the steeliness of the latter and the honeysuckle and hazelnut of the former.”

This white variety originated in Burgundy, but is now grown around the world. Its flexibility to thrive in many regions translates to wide flavor profile in the market. Chardonnay is commonly used in making Champagne and sparkling wines.