Malcolm Jolley finds a rarity: affordable Burgundy at the LCBO.
Jean-Marc Brocard Bourgogne Chardonnay ‘Kimmeridgien’ 2017 | $19.95 | LCBO# 290049
Kimmeridgien, or en Anglais Kimmeridgian, is a bit of a mouthful, but it refers to the kind of limestone one finds in Chablis. Chablis is the place that Jean-Marc Brocard is famous for making the wine of the same name. But it turns out that’s not all Domaine Jean Marc Brocard does, because that deposit Kimmeridgian limestone extends beyond Chablis to Auxerre where M. Brocard makes a ‘simple’ white Bourgogne from fifteen year old vines.
Brocard’s Kimmeridgien wine is a mouthful too. It has a pronounced mineral character (as one would expect from a master of Chablis) and a clear citrus-meets-green-apple acidity, but with an overlying roundness, which keeps it from being austere. It’s remarkably good for its price. Affordable Burgundy is becoming so rare, the term risks being rendered into oxymoron. The bourgeiosie of Ontario are unlikely to let this deal go unnoticed, so I plan to stock up before it’s gone.
