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Wine
Advocate
This
Estate has been passed from father to son since 1815.
Presently, the young, talented, intelligent and energic
Samuel Billaud is at its reins. Throughout the Cote de
Beaune, in the cellars of that region' s established and
rising stars, Billaud's name is constantly mentioned as
Chablis' hope for the future. My tasting of his 1997s, as
well as consumption of numerous bottles of 1995s and 1996s
stateside and in Beaune' s restaurants, confirm the
excellence of Billaud' s work. If he were to abandon machine
harvesting (only the grands crus and old-vine premier crus
are harvested by hand), and excessive manipulations (a
cold stabilization, 2-4 rackings, 3 finings and a filtration), there is no telling what heights this man could achieve.
Billaud
like the 1997 vintage, describing it as "well-balanced
and from an extremely healthy harvest. He is not as
enthusiastic about the 1998 vintage, however. Some parcels
were stuck by devastating hail storms (his Mont de Milieu
vines produced only 50-60% of their normal loads), and the
three weeks of rain prior to harvest brought rot and less
than ideal maturity levels.
"
The
1998s will be reminiscent of the 1991s", said Billaud.
Readers who can still find some bottles of Billaud-Simon' s
1996s on the market are well-advised to consider them,
particularly the upper-end cuvées. As Billaud said, "
there are extremely rich and complex, well-balanced and
age-worthy as their high acidity is covered by richness of
fruit ".
Billaud is experimenting with the use of oak (the vast
majority of modern-day Chablis are made in massive stainless
steel tanks hooked up to computer systems that regulate
remperature), with an elevage on the wines' fine lees (the
Petit Chablis and Chablis are left on their lees 2 months,
the other cuvées up to 6 months).
Produced from a parcel located below the Montée de Tonnerre
vineyard, the 1997
Chablis
Tête d'Or,
was vinified and aged in 20% oak. It reveals ripe pear
aromas and an oily-textured, plump and broad character.
Candied almonds and sweet lemon juice are found in this
medium- bodied, early drinking offering. Anticipated
maturity: now-2002.
The 1997 Chablis Mont
de Milieu displays
opulent almond cookie, spice and red berry scents. It is a
fat, velvety-textured, medium-bodied, dense, yet
well-focused wine with candied white fruit and mineral
flavors. It exhibits excellent ripeness of fruit, balance
and richness. Drink it over the next 4 years."
Three
thousand bottles of the chalk, mineral and pear-scented
1997
Chablis Fourchaume
were
produced. It offers lovely grip, breadth and freshness, as
well as an oily-textured and sea sheell-flavored personality.
This medium-bodied wine will deliver loads of pleasure if
drunk over the next 5 years.
As was noted, I tasted two distinct cuvées of the
1997
Chablis Montée de Tonnerre.
To every consumer' s frustration, they will be labeled
identically, yet are significantly different. The first,
rated 89 points, displays stone, flint, crisp pear and
apricot pit aromas. It is velvety-texture, medium-bodied and
filled with nuts, while fruits and honeysuckle blossoms.
Were it not for a drying finish, it would have merited an
outstanding score. The second cuvée, crafted from a parcel
of older vines, ( it also enjoyed a longer elevage ) is
significantly more complex, concentrated, dense, with a much
longer finish. It merited a score in the 91-93 point range.
The first bottling should be consumed over the next 5 years,
the second between 2001 and 2007. Sadly, I have no idea
which cuvée will be on the shelves of retailers.
Billaud vinified and aged his
(55 year old vine) half in stainless
steel and half in oak barrels ranging from one to five years
old. The end result is an outstanding effort that displays a
nose of minerals, toast, flowers and faint hints of creme
brulee and vanilla bean. It has a steely,
medium-to-full-bodied core filled with white berries, flint
and pit fruits. This wine has superb ripeness,
concentration, grip and lenght. Anticipated maturity:
2000-2006.
The following wines were tasted directly
from their tanks where they were awaiting fining, filtration
and bottling. Produced from 25 year old vines, the
1997
Chablis Vaudésir
has
smoky mineral aromas and a magnificient medium-to-full body
crammed with lemony white fruits, hazelnut cream and
minerals. It is opulent, extremely rich, broad, and has an
impressively long and defined finish. This intense and
flavorful wine should be consumed between 2000 and 2006.
The 1997 Chablis
Preuses (crafted from
55 year old vines) reveals poached pear and toasty scents (an attribute of the Preuses vineyards, even if the wine was
never aged in wood). It is oily ("glycerin heaven"
was the description in my notes), packed with flinty
minerals and luxurious. This balanced yet
opulent-textured and full-bodied wine is magnificently
concentrated, deep and powerful. Projected maturity:
2001-2007.
I adored Billaud-Simon's
1997
Chablis Les Clos.
Its
complex and tight aromatics reveal loads of minerals, flint,
clay and sea shells. It is masculine, hugely dense, offers
super-ripe apple flavors (reminiscent of Moll' s Apple
Sauce), yet is as dry as the Sahara. This spectacularly
rich, thick, fresh, yet brooding wine is velvety-textured,
full-bodied, and possesses an exceedingly long finish that
exhibits flint, stone and chalk flavors. Anticipated
maturity: 2003-2010.
Robert J. Parker
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