Tasted with Julien Brocard & Pierre Brissy in Préhy, 19 January 2023.
Jean-Marc Brocard
3, route de Chablis
89800 Préhy
Tel: +33 3 86 41 49 00
www.brocard.fr
More reports with Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard
Julien & Pierre on 2022:
“A really good harvest and not just in terms of quantity. Yes, we had a little frost but this year it wasn’t really significant. An very early harvest – 1st September – some of the parcels with a little hydric stress but most were in very good shape – super maturities with good balance. Some of the fermentations started slowly but all stayed tranquil in the cuverie.”
Julien & Pierre on 2021:
“In 2021 we lost at least 70% in our Petit Chablis, between 50 and 60% in the Chablis and generally about half a harvest for the rest. 2016 could have been worse! The wines that started very citrussy with obvious acidity but they grew in balance during their elevage. You don’t have to ask if all is bottled – almost all have been sold!”
The wines…
A vintage where JM Brocard have excelled – but this year the Julien Brocard ‘collection’ of ‘Les Sept’ is collectively grand – I bought the first two wines – the only ones that remained in their winery ‘shop.’
Since 2011 everything has been in DIAM – “and the customers are happy:”
2021 Jean-Marc Brocard, Petit Chablis
Some weight of aroma here, slightly round but still with good freshness. A weight of middle flavour – this is a PC with plenty of intensity. Slowly mouth-watering with some delicious citrus. Long! That’s excellent!
2021 Jean-Marc Brocard, Chablis
Mainly Courgis and Préhy. The best part of 100 hectares worth so there are a number of bottlings. All stainless-steel elevage, one racking at the end of fermentation but retaining all the lees – no batonnage.
More fresh and floral – higher tones. Some gas and more energy – less serious than the first wine – but really vibrant and intense in the middle and finishing flavours – that’s a great finish – simply excellent wine with a small tannin in the finish too – yum!
More direct and mineral – a little impressive reduction here. Broad and vibrant over the palate – a little sweetness and lots of energy – slightly more perfumed in the flavours – that’s a great Chablis.
Also direct, but less reduction. Broad – mineral wine but still with energy and the citrus vivacity – mouth-watering indeed juicy wine – great finishing too – broad and persistent. That’s another great one!
A mix of concrete ‘eggs’ and foudres for elevage. Same parcel as the last – vines on the plateau of Prehy. Organic – actually biodynamic – but an older planting date. Different form/shape of bottle.
A different width of concentrated citrus fruit, with flashes of clarity in this concentration too. A touch of barrel in the flavour but this is wide, fluid and impressive wine – keep it 2 years – I’m sure it will also be a great one. The wood from a foudre – 15 hl
2021 Jean-Marc Brocard, Chablis 1er Montmains
Just from Montmains.
A depth of aroma but today tighter above. Direct, a little more incisive – certainly with cool fruit. This breadth of flavour is very impressive and melting – that’s delicious, excellent wine.
All Stockinger foudres for elevage. The highest part of JMB’s Montmains – ‘the maturity comes very quickly here.’
A small extra oak note – some riper citrus at the core. More energy here – still a cool style to this fruit but with a supple, fluid, energy and texture. Keep this a couple of years – it could be a great one!
2021 Jean-Marc Brocard, Chablis 1er Côte de Léchet
A narrower, riper citrus but still fresh and not over-mature. Broad, cool lovely energy again – this with a more perfumed floral style – this finish is great, wonderfully persistent too!
Here are more higher, citrus, tones. Plenty of volume with fine energy. Airy and very tasty flavour – another wine with a brilliant finish – sinuous and pure – almost all citrus, slowly mouth-watering. Potentially a top VdV!
2021 Jean-Marc Brocard, Chablis 1er Fourchaume
More direct, almost a little DIAM reduction. Starting narrow, growing in width over the palate. Nicely juicy finishing – a very lovely finish!
Ooh – a vibrant, energetic minerality here – that’s a great invitation. More scale – fluid flavour, faintly reductive with a little citrus zest. That will be a great one – airy rather than of power.
2021 Jean-Marc Brocard, Chablis 1er Montée de Tonnerre
More compact yet with more width of aroma than the Vaulorent. Lots of energy here – really a vibrant wine – but never one that bites. A super finish – intense and extra long – simply excellent wine!
2021 Jean-Marc Brocard, Chablis Bougros
Extra depth and width for these aromas – narrower in the high tones but slowly they grow. Bigger, more structural the oak very subtle – the finish extra intense.
Concentrated, not as wide a nose rather it’s one accented with faint barrel notes. Mouth-filling – full wine. The whole panorama slowly melting over the palate. Broad finishing – achingly good here – a great wine and simply excellent Valmur!
500-litre barrel elevage.
Another width of aroma – less intense but no less interesting. Here is an extra punch – the barrel not visible – more structural – that’s a Vaudesir with lots of character. Bravo Vaudésir.
Now it’s orange wax time. The biodynamic wines of Julien Brocard ‘Les 7 Lieux:’
The Montée de Tonnerre previously was the only wine in the series to lack AB/Demeter – organic certification – but from 2021 it also has it. And what a range – the first ever clean sweep here! :
Opposite the JMB winery.
Open, fresh very faintly reductive. Large in the mouth – beautifully energetic – more minerals and faint reduction, the citrus coming through more and more – then an extra finishing width too – and I’m tasting this after the GCs! Bravo!
Here in 1998 were the domaine’s first tests in biodynamics
More airy with slightly more focus on the width of yellow citrus. Extra impact – incisive – energy again. Absolutely top in all directions – I bought this and the previous – no surprise, almost the last cases at the domaine!
A more composed but more together line of mineral aromatic. Wide, ultra-fine intensity focus and clarity – so good! Cooler fruit then a burst of growing flavour energy in the middle to finishing flavours before lowly fading – another really great wine!
Tighter in the higher tones but super depth of aroma at the base. Again, incisive, cool, focused and precise. The more mineral, less citrus of these two so just a hint of austerity – but what a wine! Bravo again!
Also a hint tighter in the high tones but broad and interesting below. More vibrant but there’s a little gas here too. Beautiful flavour energy though – a wine that’s ever more fluid as the gas fades -transparent and gorgeous – yes! What a long finish too!
One of my wines of the year in the 2017 vintage, more discrete in 2018 but back to form in 2019 and 2020 & 2021.
Here the nose is more open – and what a nose. Incisive, cool – wiry muscle but with a perfectly tailored covering. Mobile, fine textured, wine of class. Superb in the finish too – the wine, unsurprisingly, that I’d wait the longest to ‘harvest’ from my cellar – but what a wine!
Zero added sulfur – also not at the time of bottling.
Clean, deep and showing wonderful citrus clarity too – no sense of ‘nature’ in these aromas. Fine, pure, citrus and minerals. Broader in the middle and top finishing flavours. Extra broad in the finish too – I have to take my hat off to this – not only is it a beautiful Chablis – I’m sure that you wouldn’t note that its ‘natural.’