From south-facing slopes above Les Preuses, and distinguished among Brocard’s premier cru bottlings for having matured in a (3-year-old, 10,000-liter) cask, the 2007 Chablis Vaulorent smells of iris, grapefruit, white peach, and ocean breeze. Offering the palate a positively shimmering exchange of bright citrus with salt and crushed stone, this clearly benefitted from its long stay on fine lees to convey a sense of both stuffing and subtly creamy textural allure. Suggestions of chewy fruit skin and citrus zest are nicely integrated into a refreshing and polished finish that positively pulled at the back of my jaw, making me salivate for the next sip. This elegant cru – electrostatic, yet umami-rich – ought to reward at least 6-8 years of cellaring. Enologist Nadine Gublin (also of Domaine Jacques Prieur) is now heading the team here, although I can’t claim that any change in style was noticeable to me after only one vintage, a vintage that certainly inherently contributed to the less than forthcoming nature of many of these wines, as well as to greater irregularity in quality than those of 2006. I found myself less satisfied with this year’s grand cru bottlings as a group – after being puzzled by how several of the 2006s showed at a comparable stage, too – than I was with those of ostensibly lesser pedigree. A majority of the acreage controlled by Brocard is now being farmed biodynamically, and Julien Brocard suggests he may soon set some sort of record for surface area under such a regimen.Imported by: Martine’s Wines, Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-0400