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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 90.7 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 51 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by blanquito on 11/13/2023: Another excellent bottle, this one showing better, fresher than the first two bottles. Pure Chablis, citric, transparent, some wet rocks. (241 views) | | | Tasted by blanquito on 5/28/2022 & rated 93 points: Lovely, detailed bouquet of lime blossoms and fresh herbs. On the palate, attacks well with the silky acids and texture of a white with some age and shows a crazy note of lanolin and pickled lemon rind. On the dry and bright ends of things, nothing rich or oaky here, it’s austere and intense and so minerally and citric, it’s the kissing cousin of a trocken Riesling. Terrific lingering, bitter caraway-seed finish. Aging nicely, my kinda chablis. (564 views) | | | Tasted by Martin Max on 12/12/2021 & rated 91 points: this wine ages really well. my score keeps increasing year after year. (624 views) | | | Tasted by pjaines on 8/16/2021: This has put on more weight and filled out on the palate yet still retains a laser-like tension on the finish. Notes of ginger, lemon but with bright acidity; long fiinish. Excellent - but let it breathe. (1099 views) | | | Tasted by Cote d'Or on 1/2/2020: Tasted over 2 hrs
-translucent med gold
-waxy banana citrus stone lanolin
-med acidity, med weight fairly complex sweet yellow fruit bitter mineral beeswax, good length
-excellent power and complexity but just not a huge fan of the distinctive flavor profile this producer seems to generate that transcends terroir in my opinion (1285 views) | | | Tasted by Martin Max on 1/18/2019 & rated 90 points: 88 points the first day, 90 the second day. Clearly needs time to open up completely. (1407 views) | | | Tasted by Pebben on 8/5/2018 & rated 92 points: From memory: Wow – still a baby really! Laser-sharp with pronounced notes of crushed seashells and lemon-peel throughout – I don’t think I’ve ever had a wine that smelt as much of the sea as this one. Very little oak to soften the blows, but the fruit is fortunately generous enough to prevent this from becoming a downright masochistic affair. Not for the terrace aperitif – this is a serous, grown-up, old school Chablis that really needs food to show its best. (1507 views) | | | Tasted by clarktoews on 4/29/2018 & rated 92 points: HUGE fan of this wine (1599 views) | | | Tasted by Periko on 3/7/2018 & rated 83 points: Quite different showing and nothing like previous bottles. Feeling a bit heavy but specially a very significant bitterness at the finish. Could be the vintage or an off bottle? Held the wine for a few days but it did not improve at all. (1515 views) | | | Tasted by SLOFred on 11/23/2017 & rated 90 points: Same comments as prior. My last bottle unfortunately. Amazing how well these whites from Burgundy age. (1289 views) | | | Tasted by SLOFred on 9/23/2017 & rated 90 points: Great wine as always. (1312 views) | | | Tasted by SLOFred on 9/9/2017 & rated 91 points: Another fine white burgundy. (1133 views) | | | Tasted by gzim on 8/7/2017 & rated 89 points: in a great place, drinking well. Great fruit, but wished it had more mineral spine (1118 views) | | | Tasted by SLOFred on 7/10/2017 & rated 91 points: Same comments (1199 views) | | | Tasted by SLOFred on 6/26/2017 & rated 91 points: Yet another great chablis. Love it. (1059 views) | | | Tasted by m_arcon on 6/23/2017 & rated 90 points: Private Tasting (Private Location): A bit withdrawn nose with citrus zest, white, yellow flowers mixed with a hint of butter and oak. Good acidity for a warm vintage like 2011. Moderate oak, medium length. I really liked the kind of frugality, only the better Chablis could deliver. Well made with still some potential left but its no crime to drink it now. (1320 views) | | | Tasted by SLOFred on 4/10/2017 & rated 90 points: Another great French white wine. (1164 views) | | | Tasted by SLOFred on 3/15/2017 & rated 91 points: Great Chablis. So much better than California Chardonnay (1080 views) | | | Tasted by SLOFred on 12/23/2016 & rated 91 points: Same comments as prior. These chablis are so much more value than CA Chard. (1076 views) | | | Tasted by clarktoews on 12/5/2016 & rated 92 points: this is a great example of classic chablis, just love it (1146 views) | | | Tasted by clarktoews on 9/18/2016 & rated 92 points: love it love it love it. minerality is crisp and clear and a really nice backbone of acidity. nose is super bright (1362 views) | | | Tasted by clarktoews on 8/4/2016 & rated 92 points: luv this wine. great minerality, good weight and a decent finish length (1230 views) | | | Tasted by gzim on 7/17/2016 & rated 89 points: big and round for a chablis... nice simple White Burg, but missing minerality and enough acid on the finish... maybe its just shedding its baby fat? (1213 views) | | | Tasted by SLOFred on 4/28/2016 & rated 91 points: Another fine white burg. (1328 views) | | | Tasted by SLOFred on 4/8/2016 & rated 90 points: As usual, much better than California Chard. Good QPR. (1282 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By David Lawrason
WineAlign (7/23/2015)
(Billaud Simon Montée De Tonnerre Chablis 1er Cru, Ac white) Subscribe to see review text. | By John Szabo, MS
WineAlign (7/15/2015)
(Billaud Simon Montée De Tonnerre Chablis 1er Cru, Ac white) Subscribe to see review text. | By Allen Meadows
Burghound, October 2013, Issue #52
(Domaine Billaud-Simon Chablis "Montée de Tonnerre" 1er 1er Cru White) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Chablis 2012: Energy, Power and Class (Aug 2013)
(Billaud-simon Chablis 1er Cru Montee De Tonnerre White) Subscribe to see review text. | By Julia Harding, MW
JancisRobinson.com (1/8/2013)
(Dom Billaud-Simon, Montée de Tonnerre Premier Cru Chablis White) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (1/7/2013)
(Dom Billaud-Simon, Montée de Tonnerre Premier Cru Chablis White) Subscribe to see review text. | By Allen Meadows
Burghound, October 2012, Issue #48
(Domaine Billaud-Simon Chablis "Montée de Tonnerre" 1er 1er Cru White) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Chablis 2011 and 2010 (Aug 2012)
(Billaud-simon Chablis 1er Cru Montee De Tonnerre White) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, July/August 2012, IWC Issue #163
(Domaine Billaud Simon Chablis Montee de Tonnerre) Subscribe to see review text. | By Allen Meadows
Burghound
(Domaine Billaud-Simon Chablis "Montée de Tonnerre" 1er Cru White) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of WineAlign and Burghound and Vinous and JancisRobinson.com. (manage subscription channels) |
| Domaine Billaud-Simon Producer website
U.S. Importer (Addt'l Info)
From Burghound: "Producer note: Bernard Billaud, just as he did in 2010, called the 2011 vintage "a complete classic. If the wine school textbooks had a description of what classic Chablis is supposed to smell and taste like, then both 2010 and 2011 produced it. The wines are elegant, very fresh and possess a wonderful sense of tension and drive. I suppose if I had to choose, 2010 is slightly more classic but really, we're splitting hairs. From the standpoint of making a comparison with another recent vintage, I would characterize 2011 as being more like 2008 than 2010, which itself is perhaps more like 2007. The fruit was exceptionally clean and quite ripe as there was no chaptalization. Overall, I think people will love 2011 as the wines will drink well early but should also age beautifully if desired." As to the now in-bottle 2010s, they have fulfilled everything that I saw last year and then some. In sum, they are seriously impressive wines and well worth your attention. "
About Billaud-Simon
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.
vignes-clos-blanchots-billaud-simon sol-kimmeridgien-1 village-chablis
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.
Located close to the Serein River, Jean Billaud’s son, Bernard, took over the estate until its acquisition by Domaine Faiveley in July 2014. Since then, Domaine Billaud-Simon is managed separately from Domaine Faiveley: It has its own vineyard, winemaking facilities and remains dedicated to uphold the same style of the wines while continually striving to improve their quality. Along with technical improvements in the modern winery, manual grape picking is increasingly being practiced for their Grands Crus and selected Premiers Crus.
The Chablis wines of Domaine Billaud-Simon exhibit elegance, balance and pure Chardonnay fruit. Delicious when young, they evolve beautifully with some ageing.
Faiveley purchased the Domaine in 2013, bottling, but, not making the 2013’s. The changes saw a shift to harvesting the fruit earlier–with better nerve and natural acidity–than would have been the case here under Bernard Billaud. Since the acquisition, the wines have gone from strength to strength.Domaine Billaud-Simon Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre is a 30 hectare vineyard just southeast of the Grand Crus and enjoys the same south/southeast exposure as Les Clos. Soils here well drained and are made up primarily kimmeridgian (clay and limestone).
Manual harvesting is carried out at optimum ripeness levels (between 12 and 13°). The grapes are pressed in our pneumatic press and the musts then undergo cold maceration for a 5 to 7 day period before being settled and vinified. The alcoholic fermentation lasts between 15 to 18 days at the Domaine. The malolactic fermentation is usually initiated in December. The wine is aged for around 14 months including a period of time in French oak barrels if necessary. The wine is racked twice before being bottled in late autumn.Chardonnay The Chardonnay GrapeMontée de Tonnerre
Burgundy lovers enjoy debating the merits of vineyards almost as much as they savor the wines themselves. A favorite topic of conversation? Premier cru vineyards that in the right hands produce wines at grand cru quality.
For white wines on the Côte de Beaune, the premier cru Meursault Perrières is widely considered to be of grand cru quality. In Chablis, there’s one long-established premier cru vineyard that consistently towers above the rest: Montée de Tonnerre.
If this vineyard does not quite reach the level of the region’s grand crus in depth and sheer palate presence, it often does in aromatic complexity and class. In a perfect classification system, it would be ranked between premier and grand cru. Why should you care? In a word: value. Because Chablis usually is significantly cheaper than white Burgundy from the Côte de Beaune in the first place, the best examples of Montée de Tonnerre can offer remarkable quality/price rapport. If Chablis is the insider’s white Burgundy, then Montée de Tonnerre is the insider’s Chablis premier cru.
A look at the map quickly explains why. Montée de Tonnerre is situated just to the southeast of the unbroken strip of Chablis grand crus on the right bank of the river Serein
Montée Tonnerre is, in many experts’ minds, an ‘honorary’ Grand Cru—or, at the very least, as close as Premier Cru get to that top tier. The site picks up where the famed row of Grand Crus leaves off, sharing similar expositions (the “Blanchots” Grand Cru is literally across the street). Montée de Tonnerre wraps around a hillside and is traditionally broken up into three sections, or lieu-dits: “Pied d’Aloup” (at the top of the slope, facing east); “Chapelot” (more south-facing); and “Côte de Brechain” (the western slopes).
It enjoys a similar geographic profile, rich in the same Kimmeridgian limestoney chalk that makes the grand crus some of the world’s most cerebral, complex and distinctive examples of chardonnay. With its brisk citrus character, floral lift and incisive minerality, Montée de Tonnerre is wonderfully aromatic and penetrating in its youth, typically coming into greater harmony and putting on weight with five to ten years of bottle age.
Montée de Tonnerre - Chapelot, Les Chapelots, Pied d’Aloup, Sous Pied d’Aloup, Côte de Bréchain
About Chablis Pied d'Aloup Wine
Pied d'Aloup is a Premier Cru climat in Chablis, overlooking the town of Chablis itself. This small vineyard site – while a Premier Cru in its own right – is also a part of the larger Montee de Tonnerre Premier Cru climat. As such, most of the Chardonnay grapes grown in the climat go into Montee de Tonnerre Premier Cru wines, providing freshness and minerality to the blend.
The vineyard is located at the top of the hill, sitting on the steep, southeast-facing slopes above the Chapelot vineyard, also used in Montee de Tonnerre blends. The Chablis Grand Cru hill is just a short way away to the north, and Pied d'Aloup shares some of its geographical characteristics, most notably the white, chalky soils.
Chablis Pied d'Aloup
© Wine-Searcher
The Kimmeridgian soils found in Pied d'Aloup (and throughout Chablis) are well suited to viticulture, as their high levels of limestone and clay help to impart minerality to the grapes. The subsoil was deposited by an ancient sea that once covered northern France, and many tiny marine fossils have been found in the vineyards. The soils are less stony here than in other Premier Cru sites, aligning Pied d'Aloup more closely to the Grand Cru sites, and in particular Blanchot.
The southeast exposure in Pied d'Aloup means that vines receive excellent sunlight during the growing season, helping to temper the cool Burgundian climate. However, the mesoclimate in this part of the Montee de Tonnerre vineyard is slightly cooler (given its higher elevation) and, as such, the grapes have more austerity than those from lower on the slope. When blended with riper grapes from the Chapelot vineyard below, they make a well-balanced Montee de Tonnerre Premier Cru wine.
Exact position on weinlagen.infoFrance Vins de France (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins ) | Pages Vins, Directory of French Winegrowers | French Wine (Wikipedia)
Wine Scholar Guild vintage ratings
2018 vintage: "marked by a wet spring, a superb summer and a good harvest"
2019 vintage reports
2021: "From a general standpoint, whether for white, rosé or red wines, 2021 is a year marked by quality in the Rhône Valley Vineyards. Structured, elegant, fresh and fruity will be the main keywords for this new vintage."
2022 harvest: idealwine.info | wine-searcher.comBurgundy Les vins de Bourgogne (Bureau interprofessionnel des vins de Bourgogne) (and in English)
Burgundy - The province of eastern France, famous for its red wines produced from Pinot Noir and its whites produced from Chardonnay. (Small of amounts of Gamay and Aligoté are still grown, although these have to be labeled differently.) The most famous part of the region is known as the Cote d'Or (the Golden Slope). It is divided into the Cote de Beaune, south of the town of Beaune (famous principally for its whites), and the Cote de Nuits, North of Beaune (home of the most famous reds). In addition, the Cote Chalonnaise and the Maconnais are important wine growing regions, although historically a clear level (or more) below the Cote d'Or. Also included by some are the regions of Chablis and Auxerrois, farther north.
Burgundy Report | Les Grands Jours de Bourgogne - na stejné téma od Heleny Baker
# 2013 Vintage Notes:
* "2013 is a vintage that 20 years ago would have been a disaster." - Will Lyons
* "low yields and highly variable reds, much better whites." - Bill Nanson
* "Virtually all wines were chaptalised, with a bit of sugar added before fermentation to increase the final alcohol level." - Jancis Robinson
# 2014 Vintage Notes:
"We have not had such splendid harvest weather for many years. This will ensure high quality (fragrant, classy and succulent are words already being used) across the board, up and down the hierarchy and well as consistently from south to north geographically apart from those vineyards ravaged by the hail at the end of June." - Clive Coates
# 2015 Vintage Notes:
"Low yields and warm weather allowed for ample ripeness, small berries and an early harvest. Quality is looking extremely fine, with some people whispering comparisons with the outstanding 2005 vintage. Acid levels in individual wines may be crucial." - Jancis Robinson
# 2017 Vintage Notes:
"Chablis suffered greatly from frost in 2017, resulting in very reduced volumes. As ever, the irony seems to be that what remains is very good quality, as it is in the Côte d’Or. Cooler nights across the region have resulted in higher-than-usual acidity, with good conditions throughout the harvest season allowing for ripe, healthy fruit." - Jancis Robinson
# 2018 Vintage Notes:
"The most successful region for red Burgundy in 2018 was the Côte de Beaune. The weather was ideal in this area, with just enough sunlight and rain to produce perfectly balanced wines naturally." - Vinfolio
Chablis Chablis (Fédération de Défense de l'Appellation Chablis) | Chablis (Burgundy Wines)
2014 Vintage Notes:
"... a hybrid of 2004/2007 and 2010. The stone, citrus and limestone amalgam is exactly what we search for in Chablis as the style harkens to a day in the Cote de Beaune proper (1960's - 1980's) when wine was not meant to be consumed the week it was released, battonage was not used by all and new oak was rarely seen ... the texture is natural and 'of the vintage' not 'of the winemaker' .... Like Sancerre or the Loire in general, 2014 in Chablis is one of those rare years with extract and transparency. It appears to be a vintage for the "neoclassic" ages and those of us intent on cellaring the most terroir-driven (but still powerful) examples of vineyard, site-place and varietal will want to invest (heavily) in the magnetic and electric 2014's." - Jon Rimmerman
2018 Vintage Notes:
"There’s not that razor sharp Chablis acidity in 2018,” says Patrick Piuze. “But there is good definition of place. The dry conditions drove vines to drink deeper down in the soil profile."
https://weinlagen-info.de/#bereich_id=58 Single vineyards on weinlagen-info James Suckling |
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