Critic ratings
robert_parker
2011
Rating:
88
–88
The soft, pretty side of the year comes through in Billaud-Simon’s 2011 Chablis. This is an especially polished Chablis that should drink well pretty much upon release. Floral, minty notes add lift on the delineated, classy finish. Anticipated maturity: 2012+.
(Not yet released)
Bernard Billaud told me he views 2011 as a classic Chablis vintage, one of the few producers who holds that view. The growing season got off to an early start, with flowering that was three weeks ahead of schedule. The harvest began on September 10, as opposed to late September/early October, which is much more common. I tasted most of the 2011s from tank and/or barrel, except the Petit Chablis and Chablis, which were bottled in May 2012. Always eloquent, Billaud describes 2010 as a ‘grand millesime.’ Vintage 2010 at the domaine was characterized by a rainy summer with little heat. On average, yields were down 25%. Billaud bottled his 2010 grand crus in May 2012.
Importer: Langdon Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA; tel. (213) 483-5900
robert_parker
2010
Rating:
88
–88
Far from an easygoing entry-level wine, the 2010 Chablis is very tight at this stage. Citrus, flowers and crushed rocks are layered into the taut, steely finish. The 2010 really needs time to settle down, but it appears to have excellent potential. Anticipated maturity: 2013.
Bernard Billaud told me he views 2011 as a classic Chablis vintage, one of the few producers who holds that view. The growing season got off to an early start, with flowering that was three weeks ahead of schedule. The harvest began on September 10, as opposed to late September/early October, which is much more common. I tasted most of the 2011s from tank and/or barrel, except the Petit Chablis and Chablis, which were bottled in May 2012. Always eloquent, Billaud describes 2010 as a ‘grand millesime.’ Vintage 2010 at the domaine was characterized by a rainy summer with little heat. On average, yields were down 25%. Billaud bottled his 2010 grand crus in May 2012.
Importer: Langdon Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA; tel. (213) 483-5900
robert_parker
2009
Rating:
89
–89
The 2009 Chablis shows lovely focus and drive. Well-delineated aromatics, chiseled fruit and a lively finish define this tasty, vibrant white. The finish is pure and striking. This is another highly attractive entry-level bottling. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2013.
Billaud-Simon is now run by Bernard Billaud, following the exit of his nephew, Samuel Billaud, last year. The 2009 harvest began in late September and ran into early October, quite late by Chablis standards in this vintage. Not surprisingly, the Billaud-Simon 2009s are built on an expression of generous fruit that shows the ripeness and softness of the vintage. The 2009s were bottled beginning in September, 2010. As is quite common, the premier and grand crus saw a longer elevage, here roughly 16-18 months. The last of the grand crus were bottled in May, 2011. I also tasted most of the 2010s from tank and barrel, including several lots of the Petit Chablis and Chablis that had just been racked and were impossible to read. The estate began harvesting the 2010s on October 1st. It was a year in which maturation happened only at the very end of the season.
Importer: Langdon Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA; tel. (213) 483-5900
robert_parker
2008
Rating:
87
–87
White grapefruit, white currant, and lemon dominate the nose and bright palate of Billaud’s 2008 Chablis, which finishes on chalk and faintly bitter herbs and citrus oils, satisfyingly long for its appellation but less winsomely than the corresponding Petit Chablis. I would plan on drinking this over the next 18-24 months.
Bernard Billaud agreed this year to show me his young grand crus in advance of their anticipated May or June bottling, even though they were on their finings. In addition, I was able to have my first taste of his 2007 grand crus.
Imported by Langdon Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA; tel. (213) 483-5900
robert_parker
2008
Rating:
89
–89
An attractive bouquet: subtle peach, rosewater, a touch of mango and chalk dust. Good definition. An attractive rounded entry, bitter lemon, lime and a hint of passion fruit on the refined, very pretty palate. Very well crafted. Drink now-2015. Tasted January 2010.
robert_parker
2007
Rating:
89
–89
Assembled from separately vinified lots grown in Les Pargues; around Poinchy; and between Mont-de-Milieu and Montee de Tonnerre, Billaud’s 2007 Chablis features luscious white peach and its pit, grapefruit and its zest, all with a smoky, fusil aura that many associate with the banging together of Kimmeridgian chalk rocks. There is a broth-like sense of richness (if less, certainly, than in the outstanding corresponding 2006) and underlying extract as well as a lovely sense of lift and refreshment. This will prove worth drinking for the next 2-3 years at least.
Bernard Billaud’s 2006s reflected their relatively late picking and encroaching botrytis of that vintage in opulence and exoticism. His 2007 premier crus – excepting a hail-influenced Mont-de-Milieu – could hardly be more different: models of brightness, long-line, and transparency to mineral nuance. As usual, the grand cru wines here are released late, and Billaud is highly reluctant to show them in company with the premier crus of the same vintage, so I include on this occasion my notes on those finished 2006s. Billaud’s nephew – a stake holder who has had hands-on responsibility in the cellar in recent years – left the estate after the vinification of the 2008s, amid rumors of an impending legal dispute.
Imported by Langdon Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA; tel. (213) 483-5900
robert_parker
2006
Rating:
90
–90
From vines in the Prehy and Courgis neighborhood, the 2006 Chablis displays lovely, ripe pear, peach and grapefruit with hints of floral perfume, and a savory, succulent shrimp shell or even lobster-like mineral expression that seems to be typical for many wines from this sector. This superb example of its vintage’s potential in non-cru terroir finishes with, purity, refinement, and refreshing yet intriguingly mineral length. It should be worth following for at least 3-5 years. The vines here are only 15-20 years old, although some are planted with a selection massale. More surprisingly, the fruit was harvested by machine.
To his knowledge, claims Bernard Billaud, only Louis Michel among serious Chablis growers vinifies such a high percentage of his crop, even of grand cru, in tank. Clearly a man of strong opinions, Billaud reportedly fails to see eye to eye with his nephew and heir, and the property is rumored to be in danger of legally splitting into two. Billaud was not one of those who rushed out immediately to pick 2006s. The harvest was rushed, yes, he says, but only because he felt it necessary to wait close to a week for additional phenolic ripeness, at which point he had to capture it in the face of dropping acidity and rising sugars. I was not able to taste the 2006 grand crus – which remained in tank at the time of my visit, and constitute only a small percentage of the estate’s acreage – but I found the 2005 Preuses and Les Clos deeply savory, multi-dimensional, bright, and gripping (rating them 92 and 93 points respectively) and the 2005 Blanchots Vieilles Vignes (which, exceptionally, was vinified entirely in older barriques) very nearly as formidable. Billaud thinks his 2006s offer some of the minerality of 2004 combined with the ripeness of 2005.
Imported by Langdon Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA; (213) 483-5900
robert_parker
2006
Rating:
86
–86
Also recommended, but no tasting note given.
When I last visited Bernard Billaud on a June day for my issue 191 report focusing on vintage 2008, he agreed for the first time to show me his young grand crus in advance of bottling and alongside the premier crus that I was used to tasting at that season of the year. Unfortunately, he made emphatically clear on this most recent occasion that such would not be the case; indeed, I was not offered any of the 2012s to taste, but instead the full 2011 collection, and a report on Billaud-Simon’s 2012 will have to wait for next year, before which, in any case, they will not have been put on the market. (In keeping with existing conventions at The Wine Advocate – and seeing that there are modes of vinification in common and only one overlap in cru designations – I have not indicated as part of each wine’s description whether or not it relies entirely on domaine as opposed to contract fruit.)
Imported by Langdon Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA; tel. (213) 483-5900
vinous
2021
Rating:
85
–87
The 2021 Chablis Village is a clear step up from the Petit Chablis this year with more presence and intensity on the nose. The palate is balanced with red apple and orange pith on the entry and fine acidity, but this has a slightly conservative finish that needs more terroir expression.
vinous
2020
Rating:
87
–87
The 2020 Chablis Village was aged in stainless steel with minor barrel ageing. The bouquet has a light apple blossom and flinty bouquet. The palate is balanced with a fresh saline entry, modest depth with just a little attenuation on the finish. Drink over the next four to five years.
robert_parker
2011
Rating:
88
–88
The soft, pretty side of the year comes through in Billaud-Simon’s 2011 Chablis. This is an especially polished Chablis that should drink well pretty much upon release. Floral, minty notes add lift on the delineated, classy finish. Anticipated maturity: 2012+.
(Not yet released)
Bernard Billaud told me he views 2011 as a classic Chablis vintage, one of the few producers who holds that view. The growing season got off to an early start, with flowering that was three weeks ahead of schedule. The harvest began on September 10, as opposed to late September/early October, which is much more common. I tasted most of the 2011s from tank and/or barrel, except the Petit Chablis and Chablis, which were bottled in May 2012. Always eloquent, Billaud describes 2010 as a ‘grand millesime.’ Vintage 2010 at the domaine was characterized by a rainy summer with little heat. On average, yields were down 25%. Billaud bottled his 2010 grand crus in May 2012.
Importer: Langdon Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA; tel. (213) 483-5900
james_suckling
2020
Rating:
90
–90
The ideal introduction to basic Chablis, this combines lemony freshness with chalky crispness on the sleek palate. Everything fits very neatly and this is wonderfully invigorating. Drink or hold.
