Brocard’s 2008 Chablis Butteaux – vinified in a mixture of demi-muids and tank – smells strikingly of ocean breeze, kelp, iodine, and distilled pit fruits. Bright yet subtly creamy; dense yet buoyant; it offers the palate a veritable super-saturation of mineral elements, finishing with formidable tenacity yet at the same time consummate refreshment. This should grow in complexity and richness with a few years in bottle and be worth following for the better part of a decade if not beyond. Enologist Nadine Gublin (also of Domaine Jacques Prieur) headed-up the Brocards’ 2008 efforts from start to finish, including a harvest that extended well into October, while Julien Brocard continues to up the percentage of acreage farmed biodynamically at this enormous property. (Tiny lady bugs and moons are scattered discreetly across the labels of those Brocard wines that issue from “bio” vineyards.) Due to time limitations, I did not taste the entire 2008 collection here, but every wine I tasted could be recommended and is included in this report.Imported by: Martine’s Wines, Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-0400

Nutty, delicate, minerally, complex, fine-grained. Delicious and complex. Not one to keep too long though.