Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
2021
Jean-Marc Brocard's origins lie in the Côte d'Or, a farmer's son from the village of Chaudenay-le-Château, not even the son of the vigneron. Following his father’s advice Jean-Marc studied Engineering leaving behind agricultural life. It was an accident of marriage that brought him to wine when he married Claudine (his childhood sweetheart), a vigneron's daughter from the village of St-Bris-le-Vineux in the valley of Yonne. Starting with single a hectare of vines from his father-in-law in...
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This very known soil, the vastest of Grands Crus, has a big personality. The south exposure gives generous, very dry, powerful, rich, long wines on the palate, which make miracles after some years of ageing. Les Clos always develop in an exceptional way in time, by remaining mineral and powerful.
Three parcels are used to make this expression of Chablis’ best Grand Cru, from the middle and higher parts of the vineyard. Dense, mealy and savoury, this has good intensity, focus and balance with classic chalk and oyster shell notes and chiselled acidity. 2017-25
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Made from purchased grapes, so sold under the Jean-Marc Brocard label as a result, this is farmed conventionally as opposed to biodynamically. It’s a big, powerful, yet compact wine with flavours of grapefruit and oyster shell, a touch of honeyed weight and a spicy flourish. A mineral backbone sustains the finish.
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This is also quite restrained with a layered nose of mineral reduction, citrus, floral and ocean breeze. There is a lovely coolness to the mineral-driven, pure and notably rich middle weight flavors that possess a real sense of power along with a relatively refined mouth feel, all wrapped in an energetic and explosive finish. A Les Clos of finesse.
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Pale yellow-straw color. Powerful, expressive aromas of yellow peach, crushed stone, ginger and flinty minerality. Dense, fat and rich, showing a slightly exotic cast to its ripe peachy fruit but good tension and solid supporting minerality. The very long, slowly mounting finish is smooth and rich.
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The overt wood this displayed from cask last year has been almost completely integrated and now the white flower, citrus and iodine suffused nose expresses itself clearly. There is excellent richness, size, weight and power to the large-scaled, well-detailed and energetic flavors that culminate in an explosive and almost painfully intense finish that delivers huge length. Impressive.
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The 2021 Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru, which comes directly from tank, has an intense wild peach and honeysuckle nose. Quite powerful for the vintage, perhaps the fruit just occludes the mineralité of this Les Clos? The palate is well balanced with a little heaviness on the entry, notes of guava and pineapple, but for me, it is missing some tension and energy towards the finish compared to the Bougros.
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Pale bright yellow. Light, pure aromas and flavors of lemon, lime blossom, mint and crushed stone. Vibrant but youthfully tight, showing excellent mid-palate energy and a complicating suggestion of nutty oak (from the 10% fut?). Finishes with a saline element and very good glistening clarity.
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