2002 Puligny Montrachet Les Pucelles

The opening flight of Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles from Domaine Leflaive was utterly staggering. The 2002 was seamless, ripe, opulent and intricately woven, with a kaleidoscopic, vivid expression of fruit that was breathtaking. The 1996 showed more advanced notes of smoke, tar and licorice, all wrapped around a massive core of fruit. It was a profound Pucelles. The 1989 was soft, subtle and delicate, with pretty, minty notes that added freshness on the finish.

The Leflaive wines were served in pairs, which gave tasters an invaluable opportunity to compare the estate’s Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles with the Chevalier-Montrachet across three vintages; 2002, 1996 and 1983. Les Pucelles is a 1er cru and Chevalier-Montrachet is, of course, a grand cru, but in all three flights I preferred the Pucelles for their greater verve, minerality and freshness. The Chevalier-Montrachets favored a more full-bodied, opulent expression of fruit which was certainly magnificent, but offered less complexity than the Pucelles. At this level, though, that was truly splitting hairs as all six wines from Leflaive were breathtaking. The 2002 Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles (magnum) was a sensual, seductive wine endowed with marvelous opulence and richness. The wine’s clarity and precision were simply remarkable. Clean notes of minerality framed the long finish. The 2002 Chevalier-Montrachet (magnum) was rich and explosive in its honey, apricots and smoke. The wine revealed tons of inner perfume and a botrytis-like sweetness that was sublime.

Nectarine, peach and honey on the musky nose; a bit less forthcoming today than the Folatieres or Combettes. Then quite tangy and fresh in the mouth, with suggestions of exotic fruits and brooding power. This shows superb volume and length, but seems a bit disorganized today. Morey prefers this wine among the 2002 premier crus, but notes that this normally delicate style of wine is frequently temporarily knocked askew by the bottling.