The Cellar: Loire & More Day 10

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Steffen Rasch, GoLocalProv Wine Writer

Day #11 – Préhy, Chablis

I spent yesterday, the last day of this year’s trip to France, visiting with Julien Brocard and touring his family’s gorgeous Estate in Préhy, which is located in the historic wine region of Chablis. Jean-Marc Brocard, which the Domaine is formally named, produces around 1.2 million bottles of wines annually and is one of the largest family owned and operated wine estates in Chablis. The vast majority of their production is centered around making the very special style of Chardonnay that this region is so famous for - the Chablis; a wine characterized by its elegance, delicate fruit and mesmerizingly minerality not to mention zesty acidity.

As with many of the famous wines regions of France, the wines of Chablis get their unique character from what the French call the ‘terroir’ – i.e. the relationship between the soil and climate that is unique to a specific place. What’s especially unique about the terroir of Chablis is the soil. The best vineyards are planted on Kimmeridgian soils; a mineral-rich clay filled with pieces of 150 million year fossilized marine sediments. Portlandian soils, another soil type which cover significant parts of Chablis, is not as rich in clay and fossils as Kimmeridgian and produces a different, less minerally and more fruity, style of wine.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

While the Estate produces a couple of different lines of wines it is the ‘Jean-Marc Brocard’ line that is the closest to Julien’s heart as they are almost exclusively ‘Estate Wines’, meaning all the grapes are owned by the Brocard family. 

The vineyards of Chablis are classified into four different levels of quality. The wines made from grapes sourced from the best vineyards – the plots with the highest concentration of Kimmeridgian - are called ‘Grand Crus’, followed by the ‘Premier Crus’ vineyard sites. Both of these wines will say ‘Grand Cru’ or ‘Premier Cru’ on the label usually followed by the name of the specific vineyard. The basic Chablis appellation is for all the other Kimmeridgian vineyard sites within the appellation, while the ‘Petit Chablis’ category is for wines made from grapes grown on Portlandian soils.

You might be familiar with the Jean-Marc Brocard Petit Chablis and regular Chablis, both of which have been in the American market for a while and are widely distributed. But what I urge you to seek out, (what I was really impressed with) are the Premier Crus – labeled ‘1er Cru’. These wines represent real value in my opinion – a top quality product for a lot less than you’d pay for a 1er Cru Burgundy. I especially enjoyed the ‘1er Cru Veu De Vay’ and ‘1er Cru Vaulorent’, which are made slightly different but both really express their terrois. Now, while it is common to age Chablis on the lees for an extended period of time after fermentation the Veu De Vay did all this in stainless steel thanks, while the Vaulorent underwent fermentation and aging in large neutral wooden Foudres (14-15 monhs).

Since getting involved in the family business Julien has been pushing to convert as much the production as possible towards biodynamic viticulture practices. This means no pesticides or herbicides and labor intensive hand harvesting in the vineyards that this applies to. While not 100% biodynamic yet it is Julien’s hope to one day reach this milestone and be the first producer of his size in Chablis to do so.

Steffen Rasch is a Certified Sommelier and Specialist of Wine. Feel free to email him at [email protected] with any wine-related question or learn about wine in person by signing up for one of his tastings through the Providence Wine Academy.

Related Articles

• The Cellar: Loire & More Day 1
• The Cellar: Loire & More Day 2
• The Cellar: Loire & More Day 3
• The Cellar: Loire & More Day 4
• The Cellar: Loire & More Day 5
• The Cellar: Loire & More Day 9
• The Cellar: Loire & More Day 8
• The Cellar: Loire & More Day 7
• The Cellar: Loire & More Day 6
• The Cellar: Delicious Wine from France’s Loire Valley
• The Cellar: Discoveries from France’s Loire Valley
• The Cellar: For the Love of Cabernet (Franc)
• The Cellar: The Making of a World Class Wine
• The Cellar: Expand Your Palate
• The Cellar: New Zealand Pinot Noir
• The Cellar: Late Summer Values
• The Cellar: Aged Rioja and a Great Chardonnay
• The Cellar: The Other Pinot
• The Cellar: The Wonders of Gewürz
• The Cellar: Discover Tavel
• The Cellar: Pouilly-Fumé—the other Sauvignon Blanc
• The Cellar: 3rd Annual Wine, Cheese and Chocolate Market
• The Cellar: The King of Wines
• The Cellar: Last Chance for Rosé
• The Cellar: Two Wines You Should Always Have On Hand
• The Cellar: 2 Outstanding (unusual) Reds

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.