2015 Chablis Vaillons
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Tasting notes
Bright light-medium yellow. Fresh yellow fruits, ginger and a whiff of oyster shell on the nose. Not as opulent in the mouth as the nose suggests but still possesses the thickness of the vintage. Some spicy lift energizes the mid-palate. The rising, lingering finish shows a hint of youthful bitterness, but the touch of oak (about 10%) is nicely integrated.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2015 Chablis 1Er Cru Vaillons has a clean, precise, chalky bouquet with hints of shucked oyster shells coming through with time. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity. I appreciate the precision and mineralité here, a touch of flint lending edginess and tension all the way through to the finish. This is a really superb effort from Billaud-Simon.
Real Chablis tingle to this. Lemon cough sweets. Dry and tense finish. (JR)
(sample tasted from stainless steel tank): Bright pale yellow. An aroma of lemon zest is lifted by a floral topnote. Concentrated and sappy, with lemon and white peach flavors braced by ginger and quinine notes, not to mention a lot of CO2. Winemaker Olivier Bailly may add some oak lots to this wine (it certainly appears to possess the energy to support a wood component) but the barrels haven't yet finished their malolactic fermentations.