Now in Stock - Samuel Billaud 1er Cru 2023s

The wines from Samuel Billaud have all we desire in great Chablis - complexity, freshness and intense minerality.  He is no longer a rising star, having firmly established himself as dependable beacon.  These are Chablis essentials:

2023 Chablis 1er Cru Montee de Tonnerre
• 93+WA, 93VN, 92(Outstanding)BH, 91-93JM

"The 2023 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre ler Cru has a vivacious bouquet that's more complex than the Montmains. It's delineated and focused with wonderful mineralité, scents of lime flower, citrus peel and orange blossom. The palate is very well balanced with a quicksilver line of acidity, fine depth and a harmonious, saline finish. The 2023 is beautiful."
- Neal Martin

"The recently bottled 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre is another success for Samuel Billaud, unfurling aromas of nashi pear, iodine, gooseberry and grapefruit. Full-bodied, ample and satiny, it offers a layered mid-palate framed by tangy acids and concludes with a long, saline finish."
- Kristaps Karklins

"An elegant, pure and airy and more floral-suffused nose possesses more obvious Chablis character with its wet stone, shellfish, brine and iodine-suffused aromas. There is more refinement, if less volume and power, to the beautifully textured middle weight flavors that conclude in a sneaky long, balanced and altogether classy finale. Lovely stuff."
- Allen Meadows

2023 Chablis 1er Cru Mont de Milieu
• 92WA, 92VN, 91(Outstanding)BH, 91-94JM

"From three different sectors within the appellation and cropped at around 45hl/ha, the 2023 Chablis Mont de Milieu ler Cru sees 20% aging in 500-liter barrels for 12 months and then 6 months in stainless steel. Struck flint on the nose, a little smoky, very intense and delineated, this is very captivating. The palate is taut and saline, very harmonious and one of the most nuanced of Billaud's Premier Crus. Hints of praline emerge right on the finish. Excellent."
- Neal Martin

"The 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Mont de Milieu is sourced from three south-facing plots of 35- to 70-year-old vines. It’s aged 80% in tank, with the remainder in three-year-old 500-liter barrels, spending the last six months in tank, amounting to a total of 18 months on the lees. Informed by low yields, it soars from the glass with a complex bouquet of grapefruit zest, beeswax and oyster shell, mingling with white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, taut and precise, it shows considerable depth, a chalky core and a long, mouthwatering finish." 
- Kristaps Karklins

"This is at once markedly ripe yet super-fresh with its lightly exotic array of white peach, pear and lemon-lime confit that reflects just enough Chablis character to remind you where this is from. There is once again fine mid-palate density to the solidly powerful mineral-driven flavors that display fine length on the balanced finale that is not especially dry or austere. This harmonious and already nicely complex effort should easily repay up to a decade of keeping."
- Allen Meadows

2023 Chablis 1er Cru Fournaux
• 93WA, 92VN, 90-93(Outstanding)BH, 91-92JM

"Sourced from west- and south-facing plots, Samuel Billaud’s 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Fourneaux is a success. It wafts from the glass with a bouquet of lemon zest, oyster shell and white flowers. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, bright and tensile yet concentrated, with good depth, racy acidity and a pure, saline finish." 
- Kristaps Karklins

"The 2023 Chablis Les Fourneaux ler Cru has an airy, crushed stone- and flint-tinged bouquet that seems to have veered toward a more classical and sapid style since bottling. The palate is bright, well balanced and taut, with lime on the entry and a dash of white pepper toward the finish. Give this 18 to 24 months in bottle to show what it is capable of."
- Neal Martin

"A slightly riper but not exotic nose reflects a mix of white and yellow fleshed fruit trimmed in hints of quinine, sea breeze and soft wood. There is once again excellent volume to the solidly powerful and concentrated medium-bodied flavors that coat the palate on the impressively long finish that both needs, and should repay, a few years of keeping."
- Allen Meadows

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