With new winemaker Pierre Vincent in place, and Brice de la Morandière, the nephew of the late Anne-Claude Leflaive, directing this fabled estate, Domaine Leflaive is taking all possible steps to protect their wines against the premox problems that have plagued some past vintages here. For starters, Vincent is avoiding long fermentation that he believes can "soften and fatigue the wines." He’s now introducing yeasts to get the fermentations off to a quick start, ensuring that they are shorter and more even.
Domaine Leflaive has also ended the practice of moving their wines from their barrel cellar into tanks in another facility across the village in the middle in August. I suspect they are also picking slightly earlier, as the ‘17s, which finished their malos on the early side, in February of this year, are carrying acidity levels between 3.8 and 4.5 grams per liter and pHs around 3.15.
But Vincent is still stirring the lees between the alcohol fermentation and the end of the malolactic fermentation--and every three or four weeks after the malos--as he's convinced that batonnage protects the wines. Vincent described 2017 as “an August vintage for us,” as the team started picking on the 29th of that month. Yields, said Vincent, were not excessive: crop levels were in the 40 to 45 hectoliters-per-hectare range for the premier crus but just 30 to 33 for the grand crus. By Antonio Galloni.
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