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 Biétrix du Villars, from the Dauphiné, changed his career. He ran the La Chaléassière 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 François 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.
Today the helm is transferred to the 4th generation with Brice de La Morandiere's, Anne-Claude's nephew and great grand son of Joseph Leflaive the founder. We will continue with the same family philosophy of respect for the great ‘'terroirs'', humility towards the forces of nature and rigorous in it's relentless pursuit of excellence in wine making.
In parallel of a 27 years international carrier managing multinational companies, Brice always kept his roots in Puligny-Montrachet and in our Domaine, participating to its major events, contributing to our board of directors and renovating a new family house in the village.