From the steepest part of this cru (opposite the woods of Lechet), the Brocard 2006 Chablis Vau de Vey (tasted from tank) features white peach, honeydew melon, and sweetly-scented herbs, and could almost pass for a Loire Sauvignon. Lusciously ripe, yet pithy and deep in its chalky and saline suggestions of minerality, this wine’s long finish nicely contrasts with – yet balances – its generosity of fruit and firmness of underlying stoniness. I would plan on holding it for 5-7 years. Nor was this high performance a fluke: the 2005 rendition was also outstanding. A separate and similarly fine Vau de Vey cuvee is vinified here under the name of the growers, Herve Azo, and reviewed in this issue under his name. Since my visit, Quebecois cellarmaster Patrick Piuze, who arrived here in 2005 from Verget, has been replaced by Nadine Gublin of Domaine Jacques Prieure. A significant portion of the vast Brocard estate is now being farmed biodynamically. Piuze, like many vintners this year, favored racking his young wines off their lees earlier than usual with the intention of avoiding any heaviness. I did not by any means taste all of the enormous range of wines crafted at this address, and including several different labels. Brocard bottled from 2006 the first commercial quantities of three premier cru cuvees under the name “Quintessence,” each representing a broad range of sites that precludes “single vineyard” status. (I place that expression in quotes, since the names of many of the best-known premier crus by law already serve as collective or alternate names for certain nearby crus.) The blends are largely determined as juice, subject to some later fine-tuning. Imported by: Martine’s Wines, Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-0400

From the steepest part of this cru (opposite the woods of Lechet), the Brocard 2006 Chablis Vau de Vey (tasted from tank) features white peach, honeydew melon, and sweetly-scented herbs, and could almost pass for a Loire Sauvignon. Lusciously ripe, yet pithy and deep in its chalky and saline suggestions of minerality, this wine’s long finish nicely contrasts with – yet balances – its generosity of fruit and firmness of underlying stoniness. I would plan on holding it for 5-7 years. Nor was this high performance a fluke: the 2005 rendition was also outstanding. A separate and similarly fine Vau de Vey cuvee is vinified here under the name of the growers, Herve Azo, and reviewed in this issue under his name. Since my visit, Quebecois cellarmaster Patrick Piuze, who arrived here in 2005 from Verget, has been replaced by Nadine Gublin of Domaine Jacques Prieure. A significant portion of the vast Brocard estate is now being farmed biodynamically. Piuze, like many vintners this year, favored racking his young wines off their lees earlier than usual with the intention of avoiding any heaviness. I did not by any means taste all of the enormous range of wines crafted at this address, and including several different labels. Brocard bottled from 2006 the first commercial quantities of three premier cru cuvees under the name “Quintessence,” each representing a broad range of sites that precludes “single vineyard” status. (I place that expression in quotes, since the names of many of the best-known premier crus by law already serve as collective or alternate names for certain nearby crus.) The blends are largely determined as juice, subject to some later fine-tuning.Imported by: Martine’s Wines, Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-0400