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 Vintage2003 Label 1 of 62 
(NOTE: Label borrowed from 2004 vintage.)
TypeWhite
ProducerDomaine Billaud-Simon (web)
VarietyChardonnay
Designationn/a
Vineyardn/a
CountryFrance
RegionBurgundy
SubRegionChablis
AppellationChablis

Drinking Windows and Values
Drinking window: Drink between 2006 and 2009 (based on 56 user opinions)

Community Tasting History

Community Tasting Notes (average 86.3 pts. and median of 86 pts. in 4 notes) - hiding notes with no text

 Tasted by ksmith on 7/24/2006 & rated 87 points: I liked this even better this time. Pale straw in color, perfectly clear, nose of apple and pear. On tasting, I immediatly thought of crisp green and tart apples with the added body of ripe pear. Crisp acidity, but no noticible oak. A dlightful summer wine and an excellent food accompaniment. I'm going back to the wine store to see if I can pick up some more! (2033 views)
 Tasted by ksmith on 4/30/2006 & rated 86 points: Pale gold, scents of pineapple and green apple. Crisp, no noticeable oak. Tart acidity - a good match with food. (2298 views)
 Tasted by Dixie on 9/20/2005: Can't remember what I ate it with. Was pretty good, but not as good as I had expected. Not nearly as good as the Vire Clesse and more $$. Probably not buy again. Just not my style. (2039 views)

Professional 'Channels'
By Allen Meadows
Burghound, 4th Quarter, 2005, Issue #20
(Domaine Billaud-Simon Chablis Villages White) Subscribe to see review text.
By Chris Kissack
Winedoctor, May 2005
(Billaud-Simon Chablis) Subscribe to see review text.
By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (1/28/2005)
(Dom Billaud-Simon Chablis White) Subscribe to see review text.
By Allen Meadows
Burghound, 4th Quarter, 2004, Issue #16
(Domaine Billaud-Simon Chablis Villages White) Subscribe to see review text.
By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, July/August 2004, IWC Issue #115
(Domaine Billaud Simon Chablis) Subscribe to see review text.
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Burghound and Winedoctor and JancisRobinson.com and Vinous. (manage subscription channels)

CellarTracker Wiki Articles (login to edit | view all articles)

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.

Chardonnay

The Chardonnay Grape

France

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.com

Burgundy

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

Chablis

Chablis AOC (Burgundy Wines)

 
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