Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard Bourgogne Chardonnay 2025

Jean-Marc Brocard's Bourgogne Chardonnay is made in Préhy, south-west of Chablis, in the Yonne, where the Brocard family has been growing vines since 1973. This regional appellation brings together grapes from different parts of Burgundy. The north of the region has a semi-continental climate, with cold winters and moderate summers, which preserves Chardonnay's freshness, while the clay-limestone soils, inherited from Jurassic seas, give it tension and clarity.

The Brocard house favours winemaking that respects the grape: from receiving the harvest to settling, transfers are made by gravity, without pumping. Fermentations are monitored daily and carried out with native yeasts, then the wine is aged on its lees in the vessel best suited to its profile. This ageing, carried out without unnecessary intervention, preserves the freshness and purity of the fruit while giving the wine balance and stability.

This wine reveals notes of green apple, pear, lemon, white peach, white flowers, brown butter, fresh herbs and chalk. The nose combines the freshness of orchard fruit and citrus with a floral touch, enriched by a light buttery note. The palate is fruity and very fresh, with lively acidity, and ends on a clean, slightly mineral finish.

The cradle of wine culture in Western Europe, France owes its first vines to the Greeks of Phocaea, who settled around Marseille some twenty-six centuries ago, before the Romans spread viticulture along the Rhône and the Garonne and as far as Champagne. In the Middle Ages, Cistercian and Benedictine monks cleared the slopes of Burgundy and patiently mapped out the climats, laying the foundations of the notion of terroir. The 19th century brought the glory of the classifications, then the disaster of phylloxera, which wiped out the vineyards before they were rebuilt on American rootstocks; the creation of the appellations d'origine contrôlée in the 1930s then set the rules that would inspire the whole world. Today, France vies every year with Italy and Spain for first place in world production by volume and remains the ultimate benchmark of the Old World, as much for its age-worthy wines as for its winemaking models. Vineyards cover almost the entire country, from the cool north of Champagne and Alsace to the Mediterranean shores of Languedoc and Provence, by way of the oceanic climates of Bordeaux, the Loire and the South-West, continental Burgundy, the steep slopes of the northern Rhône and the high-altitude valleys of Savoie and the Jura. This mosaic of soils – limestone, schist, gravel or rounded pebbles – explains the extraordinary diversity of styles. As for grape varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot dominate Bordeaux and produce structured reds, Pinot Noir is the signature of Burgundian finesse, Syrah of the depth of the Rhône, while Grenache, Gamay, Cabernet Franc and Mourvèdre cover every register, from easy-drinking wines to wines for long ageing. Among the whites, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin, Riesling and Viognier offer expressions ranging from lively and mineral to unctuous, all the way to great sweet wines. A land of benchmarks and constant discoveries, France remains the compass for wine lovers the world over.