Vinified in several older barriques, Brocard’s 2007 Chablis Vaudesir evinces lanolin and brown spices from its wood, along with pungent aromas and bitter-sweet palate concentration of lemon and tangerine zests. An oily texture seems somehow to fit – but does not alleviate – the wine’s bitter cast. While there is unquestionable density and sheer cling here, it does not make a convincing case for Brocard’s bottling at least small amounts of wine from each of the grand crus, even when this has only been possible by means of some recent contracts. The interaction with used barriques seemed even less felicitous in the case of a Grenouilles bottling. 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