Olivier Leflaive Frères

Olivier Leflaive set up his own négociant company, Olivier Leflaive Frères, in Puligny-Montrachet in 1984. It is a family-run winery bearing the name of its founder, whose path included time in the world of music in Paris. Olivier became co-manager of Domaine Leflaive with his uncle Vincent in 1982, founded his négociant operation in 1984, and by 1994 had departed the family business to focus entirely on it. Vincent Leflaive (d. 1993) built the reputation of the eponymous estate and was a model and a valuable support for Olivier when he created his own wine estate. Olivier is the cousin of the late Anne-Claude Leflaive of Domaine Leflaive, and he produces the range alongside his brother Patrick. The house created Table d'Olivier in 1997, which it calls Burgundy's first table d'hôtes, and a hotel followed. Today the Olivier Leflaive hotel in Puligny-Montrachet has 17 rooms and suites, with Restaurant Klima, where the chef is Kevin Bottemer, and Le Bistro d'Olivier.

• Founded 1984 by Olivier Leflaive in Puligny-Montrachet
• Olivier became co-manager of Domaine Leflaive with his uncle Vincent in 1982 and had left the family business by 1994
• Vincent Leflaive (d. 1993) is honoured by the Bourgogne Cuvée Oncle Vincent
• Table d'Olivier opened in 1997; the house now runs a 17-room hotel with Restaurant Klima and Le Bistro d'Olivier

Solène Panigai is Technical Director and Philippe Grillet is Oenologist; under their watch the wines age with regular daily tastings and case-by-case decisions. Panigai succeeded Franck Grux, the house's winemaker, who had been technical director for 35 years. Frédéric Milan is Caviste. The house now employs almost 50 people, from oenologist and vineyard manager to cellar workers and sales staff.

• Solène Panigai: Technical Director
• Philippe Grillet: Oenologist
• Franck Grux: technical director for 35 years, succeeded by Panigai
• Almost 50 employees

The estate began with four plots of Puligny-Montrachet Les Meix and their 1,700 vines. It now owns 26 hectares representing 82 Climats, mainly in the Puligny-Montrachet, Meursault and Chassagne-Montrachet appellations, built up through family inheritance and meticulous purchasing. Estate bottlings carry the Récolte du Domaine designation. Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru comes from a single plot in Puligny-Montrachet planted in 1974. Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru blends two small plots planted in 1962 and 1975. Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles is a former Domaine Leflaive property that has belonged to the house's Domaine since the 1950s. Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières comes from the upper part of the climat known as les Peux Bois, also a former Domaine Leflaive property, planted in 1983. Meursault 1er Cru Sous le Dos d'Âne lies in the Blagny territory, immediately neighbouring Meursault Perrières Dessus. Meursault 1er Cru Le Porusot was planted in 1990. Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Abbaye de Morgeot blends two plots from the Domaine. Beyond its own vines, the house has entered into partnerships with other winegrowers over the years, mainly for white wines. Olivier Leflaive set up a grape buying structure 40 years ago, and the house can now offer almost all the appellations of the Côte de Beaune, Côte Chalonnaise and Chablis.

• 26 hectares owned, representing 82 Climats
• Grand Cru estate bottlings: Chevalier-Montrachet (planted 1974) and Bâtard-Montrachet (planted 1962 and 1975)
• Estate premiers crus: Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles and Les Folatières, Meursault Sous le Dos d'Âne and Le Porusot, Chassagne-Montrachet Abbaye de Morgeot
• Grower partnerships cover almost all the appellations of the Côte de Beaune, Côte Chalonnaise and Chablis

The range spans Régional, Communal, 1er Cru and Grand Cru classifications, in red and white, with appellations including Chablis, Montagny, Rully, Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault. Grand Cru bottlings include Montrachet, Chevalier-Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet and Corton-Charlemagne. Bourgogne Les Sétilles, a signature wine of the house, takes its name from the cadastral name of the place in the village where Olivier Leflaive's cellar is located, and draws on around sixty Climats located mainly in Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault. Decanter calls it among the most reliable entry-level white Burgundies. Bourgogne Cuvée Oncle Vincent pays tribute both to the wine growers' patron saint, Saint-Vincent, and to Vincent Leflaive. It comes exclusively from the house's vines on the Puligny-Montrachet terroir: 8 plots, around 4 hectares. The range also includes red wines made from Pinot Noir.

• Classifications: Régional, Communal, 1er Cru, Grand Cru
• Grand Crus include Montrachet, Chevalier-Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet and Corton-Charlemagne
• Bourgogne Les Sétilles: house signature wine from around sixty Climats
• Bourgogne Cuvée Oncle Vincent: from 8 estate plots on the Puligny-Montrachet terroir, around 4 hectares

Oenologist Philippe Grillet sums up the house's white wines: "The style of Olivier Leflaive white wines is freshness and tension." The house describes its wines as "Singular, consistent, fresh and full-bodied, yet powerful, with a good reserve of acidity and good length on the palate". The wines share quality, elegance and the Burgundian approach, and each is differentiated by its origin. In the vineyard, the soil is worked by ploughing and mechanical weeding, and everything is done on a case-by-case basis. Grapes are picked by hand; the Chardonnay is sorted on the vine and the Pinot Noir on the sorting table in the cellar. Chardonnay is pressed directly and the juice goes immediately into barrel to start fermentation. Pinot Noir is partially destemmed and sorted depending on the vintage, with cold soaking, pumping over and punching down. The wines are aged in French oak barrels from the Vosges, Allier and Jura regions, in 228, 300, 350 and 500 litre sizes from several Burgundy coopers, and all the plots are kept in separate batches. Jancis Robinson wrote that in a tasting of 25 2014 white burgundies "the Olivier Leflaive wines really sang out".

• Philippe Grillet: the style of the white wines is "freshness and tension"
• Hand harvest; Chardonnay sorted on the vine, Pinot Noir on the sorting table
• French oak from the Vosges, Allier and Jura in 228 to 500 litre barrels; every plot kept in a separate batch
• Vineyard certified High Environmental Value at level 3

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://olivier-leflaive.com/en/the-house/, https://olivier-leflaive.com/en/vineyard/, https://olivier-leflaive.com/en/winemaking/, https://olivier-leflaive.com/en/wines/, https://olivier-leflaive.com/en/hotel-restaurants/, https://olivier-leflaive.com/en/wine/bourgogne-cuvee-oncle-vincent-2023/, https://olivier-leflaive.com/en/wine/puligny-montrachet-1er-cru-les-pucelles-domaine-2023/, https://olivier-leflaive.com/en/wine/meursault-1er-cru-sous-le-dos-dane-domaine-2024/, https://olivier-leflaive.com/en/wine/meursault-1er-cru-le-porusot-domaine-2023/, https://olivier-leflaive.com/en/wine/chassagne-montrachet-1er-cru-abbaye-de-morgeot-recolte-du-domaine-2023/, https://olivier-leflaive.com/en/wine/batard-montrachet-grand-cru-domaine-2023/, https://olivier-leflaive.com/en/wine/chevalier-montrachet-grand-cru-2023/, https://olivier-leflaive.com/en/wine/montrachet-grand-cru-2023/, https://olivier-leflaive.com/en/wine/saint-aubin-1er-cru-remilly-2024/, https://olivier-leflaive.com/en/wine/corton-charlemagne-grand-cru-2023/, https://olivier-leflaive.com/en/wine/bienvenues-batard-montrachet-grand-cru-2023/, https://olivier-leflaive.com/en/wine/puligny-montrachet-1er-cru-les-folatieres-domaine-2024/, https://hotel.olivier-leflaive.com/restaurant-klima/, https://hotel.olivier-leflaive.com/le-bistro-d-olivier/, https://olivier-leflaive.com/en/wine/bourgogne-les-setilles-2023/. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/wine/burgundy/five-essential-names-to-know-in-puligny-montrachet/, https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/olivier-leflaive-2014-white-burgundies. Last verified 2026-10-12. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.