2019 Domaine Billaud-Simon Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons

Community Tasting Notes (4) Avg Score: 91.4 points

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  12/8/2023 - CHINACAT wrote: 91 Points

  Melon, orange peel, apple and a bit of stone, ripe and fairly rich, but lively with good structure. Very enjoyable.

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  7/18/2023 - sfwinelover1 Likes this wine: 92 Points

  One off ($45) from a few months ago from my most recent SF wine shop source opened for my Francophile sis in what promises to be a French-themed week. On the nose and palate, Meyer lemon oil (my sis didn’t get this) Granny Smith apples, tart peaches becoming sweeter with air and the wine getting closer to room temp, pears, light flowers, and limestone minerality (shoutout to the last writer for this phrase). Light gold, medium bodied with medium legs. Focused and powerful acidity, no heat. Good+ complexity, VG persistence and intensity. This came out of the bottle tight almost to the point of austerity, but sipped slowly over 3.5 hours and let come to room temp, became steadily more generous while keeping a pleasant tang and providing a classic Chablis charge. Steely, lithe and flinty, there’s nary a note of creaminess, let alone the deeply banished butteriness, vanilla or oak. I tend to view Chablis as usually better with food than without—although it can be welcomingly bracing on a warm evening, which last night wasn’t—and this shone with seafood risotto, but with time, it became increasingly enjoyable on its own. While this would be on the younger end of where I’d enjoy a CA chard, it’s more definitely so with Chablis and White Burgs, and the boost from air last night will only be accentuated, I believe, with 2-5 years of bottle age, then should persist well thereafter. At my price, it makes a nice change from comparably priced chards like Mt. Eden or Ramey, but on my carte, this will most likely stay a niche choice, one that, though, I loved sharing with my sis, whose palate yens for this more than mine does. 92++

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  5/13/2022 - HowardNZ Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Light, clean gold. An attractive Chablis chalky and flinty bouquet, with pear, peach, grapefruit zest and small yellow meadow flower perfume. On palate, well balanced between relatively rich, ripe fruit and wet limestone minerality. Warmer vintage Chablis yet still plenty of Chablis typicity. Not visible oak, as is the house style. Quite broad shouldered. Seriously structured. Chewy, mealy, grippy mouthfeel. Some crunchy granny with apple. Fresh, bright acidity. Unobtrusive (13.5% ABV) alcohol. Long, saline finish. Tonight the Vaillons seems much more together than I noted in my 2021 TN. Hold for a year or two or drink from now until about 2032.

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  10/7/2021 - HowardNZ Likes this wine: 91 Points

  From vines in Séchet, Roncières, Châtains, Mélinots and Vaillons proper. Light and pale gold. A Chablis-typical nose of pear, lemon zest, oyster shell, lemon meringue pie and custard. Touches of white flower perfume. On palate, a dry and mineral entry. Good weight and power yet precise and focused. A tactile, flinty and almost chewy mouthfeel. Green apples, pears, lemons and blanched almonds with chalky, saline minerality. Not presently as open or accessible, or as immediately attractive, as the recent 2019 Billaud-Simon Villages. There are some elements here yet to fully integrate. Potentially more complexity to add to the greater volume and structure. It should show better than the Villages after around 2024. (91-93).

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