2019 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet les Combettes 1er Cru

I’m inclined to nominate the 2019 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes as Leflaive’s finest premier cru this year. Wafting from the glass with aromas of pear, citrus oil, fresh peach, toasted nuts and smoke, it’s full-bodied, rich and satiny, with an immensely concentrated and incisive profile. Taut and chiseled despite its mid-palate plenitude, it’s built to cellar.

Pierre Vincent told me that Domaine Leflaive began their harvest in 2019 on September 11, preferring not to start too precipitously and rather to wait for full maturity. Alcohol levels range between 13.5% and 14.5%, accompanied by low pHs, and as usual, élevage began with a year in barrel (from a variety of coopers, including Séguin Moreau and Chassin) followed by six months or so in tank on the lees before bottling under Diam 30. Concentrated and incisive, this is an impressive range of wines that are clearly built to age (indeed, several cuvées showed a touch of youthful reduction out of the gates) and which confirm that Domaine Leflaive is back at the top of its game. Everything reviewed here comes warmly recommended.