Domaine Leflaive winery
Joseph Leflaive (1870-1953) graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique at age 20. An engineer in the marine engineering corps, he participated in particular in the design and creation of the first French submarine. Then his marriage to Camille Bi trix du Villars, from the Dauphin , changed his career. He ran the La Chal assi re metallurgical factory, at the same time looking after the family vines in Puligny-Montrachet. At the time, this was a viticultural inheritance that had suffered from the phylloxera crisis, was not very extensive, and whose products were sold to the region's wine merchants. Starting in 1920, Joseph Leflaive undertook a programme of replanting, extension and enhancement of the vineyard - with the help of his estate manager and friend Fran ois Virot (1890-1964). Together, they chose new rootstocks that were better adapted to each parcel of land, joseph Leflaive gradually began selling his wine under his own label and to his private clientele.