Tasted with Odile van der Moere (Cellar Chief) in Préhy, 24 January 2020.
Jean-Marc Brocard
3, route de Chablis
89800 Préhy
Tel: +33 3 86 41 49 00
www.brocard.fr
More reports for Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard
Odile on 2019:
“2019 seems very tasty – not the aromas of over-ripeness despite the heat of the summer. Our flowering was quite good but we lost volume from the combination of dryness and heat. In the biodynamic places we had good yields, better than in the general range of vineyards. Alcoholic fermentations have gone well and we are waiting, hoping that the malos go as well too!”
Odile on 2018:
“Surprising, because generous but at the same time and the taste is great. We had plenty of grapes – also with juice. I waited for aromas of ripeness – maybe over-ripeness – but the wines are very nicely fresh so far – some cuvées a little low on acidity, but we didn’t have fermentation problems perhaps because I made some modest acid adjustments before fermentation. We did 3 weeks of harvesting – normally it’s 2 – from the start of September, slowly following the maturity. After 2 years of penury, we could finally be happy.”
The wines…
A very successful range chez JMB this year – I find the wines to be quite classic versus the average that you will find in 2018, and of-course, the wines of Julian always seem to be on another level.
All the 2018s are in bottle. Since 2011 everything has been in DIAM – “and the customers are happy.”
2018 Jean-Marc Brocard, Petit Chablis
A compact nose. Easy entry, bubbling with pretty flavour, the finish bursts with a vibrant citrus – mouth-watering. That’s excellent, almost zesty.
2018 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.
Also not a full nose but one with green-shaded citrus and energy. A small richness of texture, very faintly saline – this has good width and is nicely juicy finishing. Really a nice and driving finish with a good minerality.
2018 Jean-Marc Brocard, Chablis vieilles-Vignes
Hmm, there’s a more open and nicely driving mineral nose – very classic. Nicely mouth-filling, layered, again lime-style citrus though without rigour. Wider, mouth-watering wine with super clarity. I like it a lot.
Vines on the plateau of Prehy. A mix of concrete ‘eggs’ and foudres for elevage.
A nose that’s a little less open with a more concentrated core of fruit. A little more structured and mineral – more like a small 1er cru. Really one of the most saline finishes of the trip. A wine that straddles classic Chablis and 1er cru quality – bravo!
2018 Jean-Marc Brocard, Chablis 1er Montmains
Just from Montmains.
Tighter top notes but the bass-line is quite wide on this nose. A touch of reductive minerality – salinity again, really mouth-watering in the middle. Juicy and saline finishing. This is excellent – quite a classic range so far chez JMB!
2018 Jean-Marc Brocard, Chablis 1er Beauregard
All tank elevage.
A little more airy and open fruit here. More direct, more incisive wine. The acidity is a little more grapefruit in style – almost some mouth-puckering here. But like a grapefruit, I love the juicy intensity.
All Stockinger foudres for elevage.
Here there’s a little creamy oak modifying the nose. Wide, driving but not a wine of narrow direction – this is really wide and mineral. Today the oak is distracting, but the shape, the form of this wine is really great. Wait 2 -3 years it could be great!
2018 Jean-Marc Brocard, Chablis 1er Côte de Léchet
A little more floral top note here. Clean, pure, mineral-style Chablis – very classic. Finishing with a modestly mouth-watering, immodestly saline line of flavour. That’s another excellent wine – just a little less personality here.
A volume of aroma – fresh and of the seashore – yes! Extra width, extra complexity in here, this is very mineral wine – that’s a great 2018 1er cru – well-done!
2018 Jean-Marc Brocard, Chablis 1er Vaucoupin
A much greener, lime-style citrus aroma. Despite a mouth-filling volume of mineral flavour, slightly reductive mineral flavour, this is a wine that seems a little shy, it’s not as exuberant as many others – but the mouth-watering balance is not lacking. A wine that needs to unfurl more. It turns out that this wine was the one that finished its sugars last.
2018 Jean-Marc Brocard, Chablis 1er Fourchaume
The glass needs a little swirling but with that, this otherwise tight wine offers some flashes of beautiful aromatic clarity. In the mouth this is rather louche, melting easily over the palate – tasty but never with quite the class, clarity or rigour that the nose suggested. More time perhaps. But like the last, a little behind the others.
Another nose that needs some conscientious swirling to bring out the interesting – and interesting this nose is! Directly more incisive, an impression of pure clarity to this mineral width of flavour. Deliciously, juicily finishing. A great finish with that rare touch of mandarin. Bravo – great wine.
Tight in the top notes but with a width of riper citrus entwined in the wine’s minerality. Almost as incisive as the Homme Mort, tempered at the leading edge by its salinity – less directly delicious today as it’s a more mineral focused wine, but this is both beautifully long and rather classic despite a faint richness of texture. Bravo again – but I’d clearly keep drinking the Homme Mort whilst waiting for this!
A more compact nose again – there’s some width of compressed aroma but you need to carafe right now. The opposite in the mouth – incisive – a wine of mouth-filling volume and a certain clarity of minerality. The finish is completely different to the rest – lots of small, interesting flavour fireworks over the palate – that’s rather impressive – bravo!
2018 Jean-Marc Brocard, Chablis 1er Montée de Tonnerre
Here the nose seems much more open, yet, whilst more airy, there’s not much to comment on. Not quite the same initial impact or volume of flavour as the MdM, but a wine that opens out and grows larger – it’s bigger in the end though offers a small sense of disappointment – to start – if comparing directly with the MdM. The finish is a very good one. But I’ve found much more excitement in the previous wines. The finish sticks though – it’s got amazing persistence
A mix of oak and orange-influenced agrume. Wider, and more incisive than the MdT, faintly oaked today but also impressively saline and complex. I find this an excellent Blanchots and a great 2018 Blanchots – agrume and saline finishing – that’s really super!
A bigger nose – of riper fruit. Wow – also a punch of freshly mineral flavour, fine clarity – no obvious oak and a great finish. I’ve got a slightly stronger connection to the previous wine, but this is clearly no lesser wine! Bravo!
2018 Jean-Marc Brocard, Chablis Vaudesir
Here a forward nose – pushed by a big slug of oak aroma. In the mouth, however, this has amazing clarity and all is framed with an accent of salinity – the oak in the finish is visible but modest. Excellent wine with the potential to be even better.
2018 Jean-Marc Brocard, Chablis Grenouilles
Only bottled yesterday.
Understated but a clarity of lime-inflected minerality is the key to this nose. Wider, less impact, slightly more structural, and here with a subtle oak that wasn’t visible on the nose.
The biodynamic wines of Julien Brocard:
Finely complex – that’s a very attractive nose. Supple, concentrated, animated even. A ripeness to this fruit, but what a great length and it follows the grand crus with aplomb – bravo!
Round, ripe, attractive, faintly oaked. But beautifully fresh and incisive. Broad flavour, very mineral. Long and delicious, modestly saline finishing. Seemingly improving with each second glance. It was great in 2017 (I bought 3 cases – and they are all drunk) and I suspect it’s great again!
2018 Julien Brocard, Chablis 1er Côte de Léchet
Not a big nose – even with swirling – carafe if you see the same. Incisive and fresh – I like the line here and I love the energy of the middle and finishing flavours. This has an easy, open and attractively mineral style in the finish. Lovely.
Just a little more open width, faintly agrume in style. Here is a little more impact, a little more heft – melting with fine and pure flavour – here I find more personality. A very citrus finish. This is really top. Bravo!
2018 Julien Brocard, Chablis Les Preuses
One of my wines of the year in the 2017 vintage.
A little more width again – and very fine width too – that’s a great invitation to drink. Not the most expressive Preuses of my tastings but certainly one of fine clarity. I sense a little softening oak – but it’s discrete – the finish is all that you could wish – a little textural, a little saline and absolutely delicious. Excellent, potentially even better!
2018 Chablis ‘Nature Le 7e‘
Was bottled in August.
A little round and reductive to start, almost a little custard in the aroma. Full, lots of salinity, round more than a suggestion of minerality – indeed the salinity is growing and growing. The important test for me of ‘nature’ – if (for instance) it’s being shown with a label that says ‘Chablis’ is whether it could taste like Chablis – and here with the strong salinity and good minerality I would say ‘yes’ – a success then.