Cellar Favorite: 2002 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

BY NEAL MARTIN | SEPTEMBER 8, 2025

Earlier this year, I connected with U.K. influencer Tom Gilbey (670,000 followers and counting) to make an Instagram Reel. Gilbey tends to focus on supermarket wines that he invariably dismisses with a raft of expletives. Fortunately, he did not foist anything shabby when, after filming, we walked up to Noble Rot Mayfair for lunch and a blind tasting.

His contribution was a 2002 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru from Domaine Leflaive that thankfully showed no premature oxidation. Burnished straw in hue, the Chevalier opens with a spine-tingling mix of lanolin, crushed limestone and freshly baked brioche, light apricot scents hovering in the background. It has thrilling delineation and focus, everything you expect from the late Anne-Claude Leflaive. The palate is built around razor-sharp acidity, though there is tangible weight and it feels concentrated for this vintage. The sapid, dry finish leaves you hankering for the next sip. The 2002 is a glorious Chevalier-Montrachet, and based on this showing, I do not believe it will gain anything from further bottle age. 95/Drink 2025-2050.

My own contribution was more modest, though no less intriguing. The 1973 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru from Jean Chenu & Fils was made by the grandfather of Juliette and Caroline Chenu, a fine producer I make sure to visit each year. After more than 50 years, sure, the 1973 is a little rustic and weathered on the nose, but it continues to offer pleasant mulberry and morel scents and never falls apart or oxidizes. The palate is simple but balanced, with gentle grip and light blackberry and used tea leaf notes that are usurped by tertiary scents. Given its antiquity and lack of vineyard pedigree, this bottle was a pleasant surprise, and it had cost not much more than 20 euros. 88/Drink 2025-2028.

By the way, when I last checked, the Reel filmed that day has been watched 322,000 times. Influencers, eh?

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