Domaine Leflaive

The Leflaive family settled in Puligny-Montrachet in 1717. In the 19th century the family practiced several trades in the village, including that of cooper, and owned a few hectares of vines whose grapes were sold. Joseph Leflaive (1870-1953) graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique and became an engineer in the marine engineering corps, where he took part in the design and creation of the first French submarine. After an industrial career he returned to Puligny and, between 1910 and 1930, bought the vines and buildings that became Domaine Leflaive. Starting in 1920 he undertook a programme of replanting, extension and enhancement of the vineyard with his estate manager and friend François Virot (1890-1964), choosing rootstocks better adapted to each parcel, and gradually began selling wine under his own label. The domaine's first bottles were exported to the United States between 1932 and 1939.

• 1717: the Leflaive family settles in Puligny-Montrachet
• 1910 to 1930: Joseph Leflaive buys the vines and buildings that become the domaine
• From 1920: replanting, extension and enhancement of the vineyard with estate manager François Virot
• 1932 to 1939: first bottles exported to the United States

After Joseph Leflaive's death in 1953, his four children, Anne, Jeanne, Jo and Vincent, chose to keep the domaine united, and in 1973 they created a Société Civile d'Exploitation. Jo took over the domaine's administrative and financial management, while Vincent took care of the vineyard, the wine and its commercialisation. When Jo died in 1982, his son Olivier took over the management with his uncle Vincent. In 1990 the family appointed Vincent's daughter, Anne-Claude Leflaive, co-manager with her cousin Olivier; Vincent remained on the Management Board until his death in 1993, and the following year Anne-Claude was named manager. According to Decanter, Olivier Leflaive founded his own négociant business in 1984 and by 1994 had left the family domaine to focus on it. Following Anne-Claude Leflaive's death in 2015, her nephew Brice de la Morandière, great-grandson of the founder, became managing partner; Wine Spectator reported in May 2015 that the shareholders had appointed him. Burgundy Report wrote in January 2017 that Pierre Vincent had left Domaine de la Vougeraie and started as winemaker at Domaine Leflaive. Decanter names Amandine Brillanceau as his replacement. She joined Louis Jadot in 2017 and worked there as cellar master, and the domaine's May 2025 newsletter reported that she had taken on the role of Technical Director the previous January. As of the domaine's December 2025 newsletter, Louis Brière, who joined in January 2008, is cellar master in Puligny-Montrachet. The domaine's current newsletter names Brice de la Morandière as Managing Director, Amandine Brillanceau as Technical Director and Julien Coyaud as Vineyard Manager.

• 1973: Joseph Leflaive's four children create a Société Civile d'Exploitation to keep the domaine united
• 1990: Anne-Claude Leflaive becomes co-manager with her cousin Olivier
• 2015: Brice de la Morandière becomes managing partner
• Current team: Amandine Brillanceau, Technical Director; Louis Brière, cellar master; Julien Coyaud, Vineyard Manager

Anne-Claude Leflaive engaged the entire domaine in biodynamic winemaking in 1996, and Wine Spectator's 2015 report credits her leadership with implementing biodynamic farming in the vineyards. The domaine describes biodynamics as going beyond organic farming, which excludes any chemical treatment, and as respecting terrestrial and lunar rhythms. The grands crus and some premiers crus, such as Les Pucelles, are ploughed by horse, and three horses live at the domaine in Puligny-Montrachet. Vines acquired in the Côte de Beaune and the Mâconnais were immediately converted to biodynamics; in the Mâconnais, biodynamic methods have been used since 2014, with certification from 2023. Vineyard Manager Julien Coyaud has led agroforestry work that includes a heritage orchard and arboretum established in Puligny-Montrachet in 2025 and an ecological corridor of hedgerows in the Chevalier-Montrachet vineyards.

• 1996: entire domaine engaged in biodynamic winemaking
• Grands crus and some premiers crus, such as Les Pucelles, ploughed by horse
• Mâconnais: biodynamic methods since 2014, certification from 2023

The domaine owns 4.8 hectares of grands crus in Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, Chevalier-Montrachet and Montrachet. Per the domaine's wine pages, the Montrachet parcel covers 8 ares, planted in 1960; Chevalier-Montrachet covers 1 ha 80 a, planted in 1957, 1974, 1978 and 1980; Bâtard-Montrachet covers 1 ha 73 a; and Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet covers 1 ha 16 a, planted in 1958 and 1959. Decanter's Charles Curtis MW describes the domaine as the largest landowner in Bâtard-Montrachet and Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. Among the premiers crus, Les Pucelles (2 ha 75 a) is a strip of land facing east a few meters from Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet and Bâtard-Montrachet; Clavoillon covers 4 ha 69 a; the domaine also owns plots in Les Folatières (1.2 ha) and Les Combettes (0.73 ha), on the edge of the village of Meursault, and makes a Meursault Premier Cru Sous le Dos d'Âne. The Puligny-Montrachet village wine comes from the lieux-dits Les Houlières, Les Brelances, La Rue Aux Vaches, Les Tremblots, Les Nosroyes and Les Reuchaux, covering 3 ha 58 a, and the Bourgogne Blanc comes from two hectares of vines in Puligny-Montrachet itself. In 2021 the domaine planted new vines in Nantoux, on terroirs of the Hautes Côtes de Beaune.

• Montrachet: 8 ares, planted in 1960
• Chevalier-Montrachet 1 ha 80 a; Bâtard-Montrachet 1 ha 73 a; Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet 1 ha 16 a
• Premiers crus: Les Pucelles, Clavoillon, Les Folatières, Les Combettes and Meursault Sous le Dos d'Âne
• 2021: new vines planted in Nantoux, Hautes Côtes de Beaune

The domaine expanded into the Mâconnais in 2004 with the acquisition of 9 hectares of vines, enlarged the Mâconnais vineyard by an additional 7 hectares in 2016 and by another 13 hectares in 2020. These wines are labelled Domaines Leflaive, and the Mâconnais holdings now cover more than 25 hectares. In the Mâcon-Verzé appellation, two plots have been vinified separately since 2017: Les Chênes, facing west, and Le Monté, facing north. The Pouilly-Fuissé range includes En Vigneraie, which gained premier cru status with the 2020 vintage. A négociant collection, Esprit Leflaive, began with the 2018 vintage with eight cuvées; the wines come from partnerships with chosen growers and are made in runs of 300 to at most 5,000 bottles. Its reds include Gevrey-Chambertin, Beaune Premier Cru Les Epenottes and Clos Vougeot.

• 2004: 9 hectares acquired in the Mâconnais; 7 more in 2016 and another 13 in 2020
• Mâconnais wines labelled Domaines Leflaive; holdings now more than 25 hectares
• Pouilly-Fuissé En Vigneraie: premier cru from the 2020 vintage
• Esprit Leflaive négociant collection from the 2018 vintage

Harvesting is systematically manual. For the grands crus and the Pucelles and Clavoillon premiers crus, the domaine's wine pages list alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in oak casks, 12 months of ageing in barrel on lees, then 10 months in stainless steel tank on fine lees. The domaine says this second winter in vats makes it possible to blend the different pieces of the same appellation into a single cuvée. The first adaptation made since 2017 was to barrel size: the inventory now prioritises 265-liter barrels, complemented by 350- and 400-liter barrels, and six foudres of 22, 34 and 50 hectoliters are used for Mâconnais wines. The Egg Cellar, built in 2012, was followed by renovation of the cuvage and the cellars of La Combe in 2017, renovation of the wine library in 2019, a new building at the cuvage in 2022 and an ageing cellar on Place du Pasquier in 2023. The domaine states that its entire Montrachet is kept back for 10 years before first release, a practice it dates to the 2014 vintage, and puts Montrachet production at 300 bottles each year. Since 2015 the domaine has selected a new type of cork to increase the longevity of its wines; Burgundy Report identifies the change as a move to DIAM closures from the 2014 vintage. Decanter and Burgundy Report both describe an earlier period of premature oxidation problems at the domaine, which Decanter dates from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s. Each bottle carries an RFID chip that can be scanned for authentication.

• Manual harvest; fermentation in oak casks; 12 months in barrel on lees, then 10 months in tank on fine lees for the grands crus
• Since 2017: 265-liter barrels prioritised; foudres of 22, 34 and 50 hectoliters for Mâconnais wines
• Entire Montrachet held back 10 years before first release, from the 2014 vintage
• DIAM closures from the 2014 vintage, per Burgundy Report

Decanter's Charles Curtis MW wrote in August 2026 that Domaine Leflaive "is among the finest producers of white wine – not just in Puligny, but in the world." Wine Spectator's 2015 report said the domaine "has built a reputation as a leading producer of top-quality white Burgundy."

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/, https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/a-emotion-for-4-generations, https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/the-hand-of-man, https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/the-work-of-time, https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/the-hallmark-of-the-grands-crus, https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/the-alchemy-of-vintages, https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/the-Leflaive-wine-family, https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/burgundy-a-land-made-for-wine, https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/news, https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/wine/montrachet, https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/wine/chevalier-montrachet, https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/wine/batard-montrachet, https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/wine/bienvenues-batard-montrachet, https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/wine/puligny-montrachet-les-pucelles, https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/wine/puligny-montrachet-clavoillon, https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/wine/macon-verze-blanc, https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/wine/puligny-montrachet, https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/news/news-18, https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/news/news-17, https://www.leflaive.fr/en_US/news/news-19. Secondary sources: https://www.winespectator.com/articles/burgundys-domaine-leflaive-appoints-anne-claude-leflaive-s-nephew-as-new-leader-51624, https://www.decanter.com/wine/burgundy/five-essential-names-to-know-in-puligny-montrachet/, https://www.burgundy-report.com/2017/01/pierre-vincent-goodbye-vougeraie-hello-leflaive/. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs. Last verified 2026-09-23