Anne-Claude Leflaive dies

One of Burgundy’s leading winemakers, Anne-Claude Leflaive, has died at home aged 59.

She was one of the region’s foremost biodynamic producers, a practice she introduced in 1997 shortly after taking over the family estate in Puligny-Montrachet in 1993.

A leading proponent of sustainable viticulture and achieving ecological balance in the vineyard she had been widely praised for her “courage and conviction” in embracing such a wholesale change.

“Her care and respect for her craft have won the admiration of her peers; the love she invests in her vineyards and wines is evident in the glass,” said Jean-Michel Valette MW when Anne-Claude was named “Winemaker’s Winemaker” by the Institute of Masters of Wine and the drinks business last year.

“I think the respect of other winemakers around the world comes from the fact that this is a family domaine that has been built up over three generations. We care for our wines like children – but for me the most important thing is to have good grapes and work with respect in the vineyards,” Anne-Claude said in her acceptance speech.

The family’s 24-hectare estate was bought by Anne-Claude’s grandfather Joseph Leflaive in 1905. Having set about repairing the damage wrought by phylloxera the estate grew in stature under his sons Vincent and Joseph.

Anne-Claude, Vincent’s daughter, was largely raised in Paris but began joining in with the harvest at the age of 17 and finally joined her father at the domaine in 1990 before taking over fully four years later.

As well as winning praise for her winemaking skills – Decanter named her “the world’s top white winemaker” in 2006 – Anne-Claude and six other leading Burgundy producers founded the Ecole du Vin et des Terroirs in Puligny-Montrachet.

She died at home on 5 April after losing a long battle with cancer which returned aggressively in the final weeks before her death. She is survived by her husband and three daughters. A memorial service is being held in Puligny this Saturday (11 April).

Her UK agents, Corney & Barrow and Armit paid tribute to Anne-Claude, Armit’s Mike Laing calling her, “a simply marvellous person, one of those rare people who had the ability to light up a room and in whose company you could never be anything but engaged. Brave, passionate, committed, intelligent, vivacious, generous and with the most infectious, often mischievous sense of humour, she inspired those around her and never flinched from taking the more difficult path when she believed it to be the correct one.”

Adam Brett-Smith of C&B echoed Laing’s sentiments, describing her as the daughter of a legend – Vincent Leflaive – who “became a legend in her own right.

“Viticulturally, she was one of the pioneers in Burgundy of biodynamic cultivation,” he continued, “perhaps this approach summed up best her qualities as one of the great wine figures in Burgundy and the world of winemaking. Self-belief, an iron conviction even, but tempered by a collective approach to endorse her own passionately held views.”

Click here for our video interview with Anne-Claude filmed in March 2013 on the power of biodynamics, the problem of premature oxidation in Burgundy, and who produces the best Chardonnay in the New World.