Wine Advisor
Samuel Billaud, Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses 2023
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Kristaps Karklins
Samuel Billaud's 2023 Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses is sourced from 65-year-old vines and is produced from purchased fruit. Although Preuses sits atop Bougros, it’s a cooler site and tends to produce wines with more finesse. Already quite expressive, in the context of this stony climat, it soars from the glass with a bouquet of white flowers, lemon zest and oyster shell. On the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied, layered, elegantly textural and bright, with incisive acidity and a long, searingly chalky finish.
Reviewed by: Kristaps Karklins
Utterly ethereal, the 2023 Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses bursts with marine-inflected aromas of oyster juice, wet stones, lemon peel, nectarine and white flowers. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied, incisive and vibrant, with a layered core driven by racy acidity and culminating in a long, lemon-scented finish.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2023 Chablis Les Preuses Grand Cru comes from 60-year-old vines that were cropped at around 45 hl/ha. This leans slightly more toward the tropical side of the fruit spectrum, although the mineralité still floods through. The palate is well balanced with a keen thread of acidity and a patina of new oak that's cohesive with the fruit. This is edgy and surfeit with energy on the finish. The 2023 is excellent.
About the Producer
Since 1815, the Billaud family has been one of the oldest winegrower families in Chablis. Samuel represents the sixth generation inheritor of the Chablisian spirit. His father André, his grandfather Jean, and his great-grandfather Jules have passed on to him all the passion and knowledge of this wonderful profession. After 20 years as a winemaker and winegrower in the family estate, Samuel Billaud created his own wine merchant and winemaker house. He naturally turned to purchasing grapes, taking great care to adjust his choice of vinification and aging to accurately translate the intrinsic qualities of each meticulously selected plot and the Chardonnay grape variety. He acquired 4 hectares of vineyards on the best-exposed slopes of the most beautiful climates of Chablis. He operates his own vineyards distributed in the Petit Chablis, Chablis, Chablis Premier cru Vaillon, Séchet, Mont de Milieu, Montée de Tonnerre appellations, as well as Chablis Grand Cru Vaudésir and Les Clos. A Distinctive Style In search of a fine and faithful expression of each terroir, Samuel Billaud strives to preserve its full value and produce wines revealing all its complexity. His great mastery, experience, and know-how are found in his wines, precise, both fresh and firm in their structure, and intensely mineral. The Estate It is located in the heart of the village of Chablis, with cellars dating back to the 13th century. The wines are vinified and aged in tanks and barrels for a duration of 12 to 18 months depending on the appellations. The Average Age Of The Vineyard The average age is 40 years, the soil is composed of argilo-calcareous Kimmeridgian marls, associated with the Chardonnay grape variety. The vines are grown in reasoned struggle, pruned, and plowed to preserve all the typicality of the Chablis terroir. A Procurement Strategy For Optimal Quality Samuel Billaud specializes in purchasing grapes from the most beautiful terroirs of Chablis. An activity made possible thanks to the trust built patiently with partner winemakers, which allows him to vinify perfectly healthy and ripe Chardonnays harvested from the plots. Whether from his own vineyard or his trading activity, Samuel Billaud benefits from exceptional climates, all located on the most beautiful slopes, resting on soils mainly composed of Kimmeridgian argilo-calcareous marls.
