Jean-Marc Brocard comes originally from the Côte d’Or, where he still has property up in the hills away from the vineyards. He subsequently established himself in the village of Préhy, just to the south- west of Chablis, in 1973, shortly after marrying a vigneron’s daughter from St-Bris. Today the domaine covers 200 hectares, a mix of their own property and long-term farming contracts, while Jean-Marc has handed over day-to-day responsibilities to his son Julien who has been instrumental in converting the vineyards to biodynamic principles. Indeed, a visit to the company’s headquarters in the village of Préhy is fascinating for the contrasting mix of a dynamic business sense – almost a feel of commercial hustle – and a passion for what is happening above and below the soil. Winemaking is in the hands of Pierre Brissy, in succession to Odile Vandermoere who took over from Clothilde Davenne in 2005. Charles Hugot manages the vineyards, of which 130ha had been certified organic as of 2020.

Production covers Chablis in all its guises, most of the other appellations of the Auxerrois including St-Bris and a single-vineyard Irancy Mazelots, plus a range of three Bourgogne Blancs, from Jurassic, Portlandian and Kimmeridgian soils. Everything is fermented with indigenous yeasts and the preferred maturation vessel is the foudre – large wooden ovals, though some cuvées remain in stainless steel. Most of the Brocards’ production from their own vineyards comes under the name of Domaine Ste-Claire.

Though Jean-Marc Brocard was a (qualified) adherent of the Jean Durup expansionist Syndicat during the ‘civil war’ of the 1970s, he feels that they went too far and I suspect that he could now be classified as a conservationist. He certainly feels that certain plots of Kimmeridgian vineyard (in Préhy and Chichée) should not have been declassified when large tracts on Portlandian in the north of the region were upgraded.