Producer Profile 3: Olivier Leflaive — Medium to Full-Bodied White Wines

Wines in this style tend to be:

  • Made from more neutral grape varieties such as Chardonnay (although there are many exceptions to this, as you can see above)
  • From grapes harvested at medium to high levels of must weight
  • Mainly dry or off-dry

Wines in this style tend to have:

  • Moderate to high levels of alcohol
  • Pronounced richness and complexity
  • Used production methods that emphasize weight and richness
  • Shorter settling times leading to musts with higher turbidity
  • Fermentations at warmer temperatures to emphasize more complex aromas
  • Fermentations carried out by ambient yeasts
  • Barrel fermentations and Barrel Ageing
  • Malolactic fermentation
  • May go to bottle with light or no fining and/or filtration

Wines in this style tend to avoid:

  • Low levels of sugar ripeness in the grapes
  • Grapes with high levels of Botrytis infection, that may mask varietal character
  • Production techniques that favour a lighter-bodied style, such as
    • Fermentations on highly clarified musts at cooler temperatures
    • Fermentations only in tank