Smoke, flint, citrus, honey, chalk, salt and apple on the nose. Textured and long, this is a solid rather than zesty style with good complex minerality on the finish. It has a certain heaviness due to the oak. A good wine. Drink 2012-2016. Alc: 12.5%. (16.5 points)

The 2009 Chablis Butteaux fills out beautifully in every direction. It is at once broad and deep, with attractive suggestions of lemon peel, oyster shells and white flowers that linger on the long, sumptuous finish. The wine's minerality appears only after some time in the glass. This is a harmonious and nicely put together wine. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2019. I tasted a wide range of wines at Domaine Brocard with oenologist Nadine Gublin, including the wines of Brocard's other Chablis properties, which are reviewed separately. In 2009, the harvest began in mid-September. The wines were vinified with ambient yeasts in steel and/or oak, depending on the vineyard, and aged on their lees until the malos were finished. The Cote de Lechet, Fourchaume, Bougros, Valmur and Les Clos were fermented and aged in 100-hectoliter conical oak vats. Brocard bottled the 2009s in late 2010 and early 2011. The Brocard wines are generally quite rich and lush in texture relative to most of the other wines in the region. One of the other important characteristics of this lineup is that the most complete, successful bottlings don-t always come from the most prestigious sites. I also noted that the house and vintage style marked the 2009s to a greater degree than at many other addresses, while the 2010s show more site specificity. A number of the 2010s were still undergoing malolactic fermentation, so I was only able to taste a selection of the wines from that year. The estate's vineyards are currently being converted to biodynamic farming. It will be interesting to see where the wines go from here.Importer: Martine's Wines, Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-0400

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