Terroir Insight: Domaine Leflaive, Montrachet

There are only few wines that can match the legendary status of Domaine Leflaive’s Montrachet.

It’s a very rare wine, and most likely one of the best wines produced on this magnificent Grand Cru. Domaine Leflaive is a quite new owner on the Montrachet, as they acquired the plot in 1991, thus crowning their portfolio of great vineyards with the ultimate white Grand Cru in Burgundy.

A legendary wine that certainly deserves a terroir insight. So let’s go to the Mont-Rachet.

The Domaine Leflaive’s plot in the Montrachet

The Domaine Leflaive’s plot is located in the Chassagne end of the Montrachet, just north of the southern part of the DRC’s holdings of Montrachet – see map below.

The plot is only 0.0821 ha, and is located just above the road at the bottom of the Montrachet vineyard. It is planted north/south just as the DRC plots to the south – see map below.

The plot was acquired from the Fleurot family in 1991, and was part of the 0.32 ha Fleurot holdings before they began to split the plot and sell it off. The original Fleurot’s plot is now divided in 5 plots, with only 0.0405 ha remaining under Fleurot ownership.

The history of the Domaine Leflaive’s Montrachet plot

The plot was, as mentioned above, previously owned by the Fleurot family who acquired it from Charles Drapier, a grower and négociant in Puligny, at an auction in November 1918. Charles Drapier owned around 1 ha of Montrachet on the Chassagne side of Montrachet, and according to Danguy & Aubertin also a piece of the Puligny side of Montrachet.

The holdings on the Chassagne side were then split between three buyers: Jules Lafon, the founder of Domaine des Comtes Lafon; Leon Roizot, and lastly Auguste Fleurot, who got the nothern part of the Drapier holdings, where Leflaive’s plot is located. Rodier³ confirms this as he mentioned Fleurot-Laroze as one of the owners in Le Montrachet in 1920.