Description
Bright, clear hue with intense golden green glimmers, this Chablis’ aromatic profile is elegant, delicate and characterized by floral notes of acacia, lime blossom, peach, and yellow plum, while revealing toasty notes and candied fruits combined with soft waves of citrus fruits. The palate is rich, dense and opulent. There is exceptional richness to the dense and seductively textured, indeed even opulent flavors that possess excellent volume along with an attractive minerality that really comes up on the well-detailed finish. It is powerful, with a lingering essence of stone. Finely balanced and leaves a mouthwatering impression. This Chablis wine of Domaine Billaud-Simon exhibits elegance, balance and pure 100% Chardonnay fruit. Delicious when young, they evolve beautifully with some ageing. Pair pike in a langoustine coulis or sea bass in a salt crust.
Pruning using the Chablis method, dis-budding, tillage and harvesting are just some of the the stages that make up daily life at the Domaine and allow them to cultivate magnificent grapes that reflect their terroirs. When harvest time comes the grapes are tasted, carefully picked and taken to the vat-house where they are sorted manually and gently pressed before being vinified and aged at the Domaine. The ageing process varies in length depending on the vintage, its characteristics and the terroir.
Domaine Billaud-Simon in Chablis is comprised of about 42 acres, encompassing four Grands Crus vineyards, including one acre in Les Clos; one acre in Les Preuses; 1.75 acres in Vaudésir; and .44 acre in Les Blanchots. The Domaine also owns four Premiers Crus vineyards, including Montée de Tonnèrre, Mont-de-Milieu, Fourchaume and Vaillons. In addition to its crus wines, Domaine Billaud-Simon makes a Chablis Villages “Tête d’Or”, with grapes harvested exclusively from the estate.
In 1815, at the end of the Napoleonic wars, Charles Louis Noël Billaud returned home to Chablis and founded Domaine Billaud-Simon. There, thanks to his family’s holdings, he planted the first vines. Then, a little more than a century later in the 1930s, the Domaine’s vineyards were enlarged with the marriage of his descendant Jean Billaud to Renée Simon. Jean Billaud’s son, Bernard, took over the estate until its acquisition by Domaine Faiveley in July 2014.
At the age of 18, Bernard Billaud left Chablis for Paris to study fine art. He made a successful career in communications consulting, while continuing to find time for his artistic pursuits of painting, sculpture and jazz music. Eventually however the family biz siren song lured him back to Chablis in 1991 where he made it his mission to ratchet up the quality of the wine. He wanted to produce classically styled, ethereal Chablis of delicacy.
Bernard completely overhauled the winery at Billaud-Simon, installing a pneumatic press, all new tanks, and the most modern fermentation equipment available. Although they now have state of the art technology, they maintain an important balance with traditional practices. This includes the use natural yeast for fermentation, and natural advancement into malo. Most wines are vinified and matured in stainless and don’t see any wood. There are two exceptions: Premier Cru Mont de Milieu Vieilles Vignes and Grand Cru Blanchots Vieilles Vignes, which each see some large oak. Light fining and filtration result in Chablis of elegance, purity, balance and freshness.
