2022 Samuel Billaud Chablis Les Vaillons Vieilles Vignes 1er Cru
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Tasting notes
The 2022 Chablis Vaillons Vieilles Vignes 1er Cru has developed wonderfully on the nose: orchard fruit, hints of brioche and lanolin. More complex than the 2023 out of barrel. The palate is very well balanced with fine acidity, becoming stricter toward the sapid and focused finish. I'd cellar this for two or three years.
Critic scores
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
The 2022 Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons Vieilles Vignes delivers a generous bouquet of sweet stone fruits, white flowers and wet stones, followed by a medium to full-bodied, satiny and saline palate that's more classically tightly wound than the nose would suggest; but this is one instance where the 2021 rendition is more typically Chablisien than its 2022 counterpart.
Tank sample. Unoaked. Smells even more creamy than the Fourneaux, suggesting a lees effect even before you put the wine in your mouth. Herbal, stony green fruits, citrus purity and a slight grip in the texture that gives the wine impressive length and depth. Perfect balance between freshness, texture and pure fruit. Needs time, as do all these Billaud premiers crus. (JH)
About the producer
Samuel Billaud started making wine under his own name in 2009, but he is one of the most experienced producers in Chablis, having made wine in the region since 1985.