Chablis Montée de Tonnerre 1er cru
2022
Domaine Billaud-Simon has been producing Chablis wines since 1815 and are known for their mineral driven, pure, elegant and fresh Chablis. The Domaine was created by Charles Louis Noël Billaud in 1815 following his return to his family’s land from the Napoleonic wars. His wines quickly garnered a reputation for quality wines. The Domaine’s vineyard holdings grew quite considerably in the 1930’s following the marriage of Charles Louis’ grandson, Jean Billaud to Renée Simon. Jean...
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This climat is situated alongside the former Roman road that links the town of Auxerre with the town of Tonnerre. At this place, the road climbed the hillside up towards the plateau in the direction of Tonnerre. As an extension of the Grands Crus, this is the most diverse of the Premiers Crus with a very complete profile: mineral, floral, oiliness, body and a rich character.
The grapes are picked and sorted manually on a vibrating sorting table to retain only the healthiest fruit. The grapes are drained naturally before being pressed using a pneumatic press gently to extract the juices and conserve as much aroma as possible. Static cold settling of the musts for 12 to 24 hours in stainless steel vats to obtain a bright, clear juice. Alcoholic fermentation is followed by malolactic fermentation, both natural, in stainless steel vats. 14 to 16 months in stainless steel vats to preserve freshness and minerality. The wine is racked twice before being bottled at the end of Autumn.
Beautiful white gold hue with greenish tinges. This 1er Cru offers an exceptional aromatic profile with mineral notes and spice. The perfect balance between strength, freshness, sweet fruity notes and intense floral aromas. A complex, elegant and remarkably harmonious wine.
An attractive mix of peach, apple, lemon, oyster shell and fresh herb flavors are the hallmarks of this expressive and complex Chablis. Intense from beginning to end, with a kaleidoscopic finish.
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Very pure and crystalline on both nose and palate. Real drive and energy, just the vaguest hint of wood which adds more to texture than flavour. A very fine example. Billaud-Simon has plots within the three sectors of Montée de Tonnerre, with the oldest plots in the Pied d'Aloup climat which reach 87 years old. Olivier Bailly normally only uses tank for this climat but this year has 6% in barrel.
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(from a 2.5 ha parcel of 35+ year old vines – two thirds of the blend is from Chapelot, and the remainder is from Pied d’Aloup and Montée de Tonnerre proper; the Pied d’Aloup vines were planted in 1935). More moderate though still easily detectible wood is present on the nose of iodine, mineral reduction, white flowers and a hint of oyster shell. The markedly finer middleweight flavors exude evident minerality that adds a sense of lift to the balanced, nicely dry and impressively long finish that displays the natural class of a fine MdT. Excellent.
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