Domaine Anne-Claude Leflaive (Burgundy)(1)
Puligny-Montrachet (see map), Burgundy
Anne-Claude Leflaive is a terroir-passionated vintner whose roots in the family winery in Puligny-Montrachet dates back from at least 1717.The family estate was founded by her grandfather Joseph Leflaive. A father of five, he bought 25 hectares of vineyards as the prices had dived following the phylloxera debacle. Anne-Claude Leflaive began to take the reins of the estate in 1990 with her cousin Olivier after the older generation retired. Olivier Leflaive left 4 years later to work full-time on his négoce activity and Anne-Claude continued the transition of the 25-hectare surface from conventional farming to reasonned, then organic, and finally biodynamic farming, the whole property being farmed that way in 1997. She joined the Nicolas-Joly-funded Renaissance-des-Appellations group to share experiences about this particularly-demanding vineyard management. Her estate has been know for the use of a strikingly-modern technology to spray certain biodynamic preparations : she used an agricultural copter to mist-spray her vineyard, allthewhile avoiding having the ground-surface life disturbed by the heavy tractor. Her passion for true wines led her to fund a wine school (Ecole du Vin et des Terroirs) with the participation of several other outstanding vignerons that addresses many topics not taught elsewhere, or not taught that way. Check regularly the program for the scheduled courses.
