2021 Jean Marc Brocard Chablis Valmur Grand Cru

Jean-Marc Brocard's origins lie in the Côte d'Or. But he was born a farmer's son from the village of Chaudenay-le-Château, and trained as an agricultural engineer, along the way designing and trademarking a trailer attachment. It was an accident of marriage that brought him to wine: he married Claudine (his childhood sweetheart), a vigneron's daughter from the village of St-Bris-le-Vineux in the valley of L’ Yonne. Starting with a hectare of vines from his father-in-law, Emile Petit in 1973.



With much hard work he now has control of about 180 hectares, part of which is 'en fermage' (25-year rental agreements). Brocard has gradually become one of the leading lights of Chablis and has been supplying The Society for many years with many wines including The Society’s Chablis and Exhibition Chablis Premier Cru. Despite being a very good businessman, this self-made man also has a great feel and intuitive understanding for the land, in which he was greatly influenced by a friend and mentor called Petit Louis, and has a profound, almost spiritual, belief in how to look after it and allow the terroir to express itself.



Since 2012 Jean-Marc has handed over day-to-day control of the vineyards and business to his son Julien, who earned his stripes after successfully trialling biodynamic viticulture in the Boissonneuse vineyard, producing wonderful wine from this vineyard. He is now converting all the vineyards of the estate to this method of cultivation. They produce wine from their own vineyards, some 'en fermage' as well as from bought-in grapes.



The house style has been for maturation in stainless steel as the delicate aromas of Chablis are easily masked by barrels less than four years old. The winery itself is extremely impressive; built in stages from 1980, it houses stainless steel temperature-controlled fermentation vats to accentuate the purity and freshness of the wines. But they have had great success with foudres (large oak barrels) for certain wines, such as Les Clos and are trialling concrete 'egg'-shaped vats.



After years of experimentation, all wines will be bottled with Diam corks or screw caps from the 2012 vintage onwards. These closures best protect the wine during its maturation in bottle. The Brocard range of Chablis to be found in these tanks includes a Vieilles Vignes cuvée which is often exceptional, and the aforementioned La Boissoneuse. Premier Cru examples include Vaucoupin, Vaulorent and Mont de Milieu while the grands crus include Les Clos and Valmur.

(93 points) Layered and mineral, the 2021 Chablis Grand Cru Valmur unwinds in the glass with aromas of orange oil, pear, white flowers, iodine and clear honey. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered, it's deep and electric, concluding with a long, saline finish. As I've written before, Benoît Droin's immensely dependable wines are among the most consistent in the region, and to my palate, the combination of Diam closures and élevages employing recently used and, indeed, occasionally new wood (though only up to 10%) means that these wines need a few years in bottle to show their best. But everything invariably comes together to impressive effect, and the wines age very gracefully indeed. Farming is conventional at this 26-hectare domaine, but the soils are cultivated mechanically, and synthetic treatments are kept to a minimum. Harvest is early and is partially mechanized, followed by fermentation and élevage in stainless steel and wood, with the proportions varying according to the cuvée. In 2021, Droin opted to pick quite early, all in one go, and reported good sanitary conditions for the year, with the wines reminding him of a rather richer, fleshier version of 2007. (WK)  (9/2023)  Wine Advocate