LeFlaive’s “les Sétilles” Bourgogne Blanc: spicy, silky, seamless

At his eponymous French winery in Burgundy, Olivier LeFlaive makes really fine wine and is passionate about his approach, using biodynamic and sustainable practices all around. Some of his wines are wildly expensive and I feel his whites are better overall than his reds. Further evidence of that, for me at least, is “les Sétilles” Bourgogne Blanc.

This 2008 white comes from a blend of vineyards in the villages of Puligny-Montrachet (60 percent) and Meursault (40 percent). The vineyards, some of which include estate croppings of LeFlaive as well as other growers, are in the Côte de Beaune, the best region for white Burgundy, and only chardonnay is used to make this wine.

The wine shows off some notes of apple and pear, and even a cornmeal fragrance. Not quite fleshy, the thing has flavors of white fruit in a medium-bodied setting with hints of allspice. I found it spicy, silky and seamless and not missing a beat from front of the tongue to the yummy aftertaste.

If white Burgundies are new to you, get a bottle of this great drinking white from a heralded year. Try it with salads, cream-sauced dishes and most seafoods.

The price is around $20 a bottle and can be found at most better wine shops. If your place doesn’t have it, contact Glazer’s Distributing for a few bottles.

Roger Gentile is the owner of Gentile’s, the Wine Sellers – www.gentiles.com – and the author of two books on wine.