Domaine Billaud-Simon

Founded in 1815, the winery has been one of the best producers in Chablis for decades. Since the Faiveley family took over the estate, the wines have become even better.

This is hardly surprising, as the Faiveleys, who have extensive holdings on the Côte d'Or, have also invested heavily there in the last decade to make their wines shine in new splendour; with great success. The 17-hectare estate in Chablis has been brought up to date in a similarly meticulous and uncompromising manner. However, the special style of the Billaud family's wines has been retained. The wines from the vines, which are on average 50 years old, are the result of a late harvest. This is quite different from the Faiveleys' practice on the Côte d'Or, where they harvest quite early. However, they have always been fascinated by the style of Billaud-Simon's wines, as the Chablis are always fresh and powerful despite their maturity and are never sluggish or even fat, even in hot years.

This is not least due to the quality of the soils and sites, which are all located within a two-kilometre radius of the winery. These are legendary Grand Cru and Premier Cru sites such as Vaudésir, Les Clos, Les Preuses and Les Blanchots and in Montée de Tonnerre, Mont de Milieu, Les Vaillons, Fourchaume as well as excellent village sites, from which the "Chablis Tête d'Or" is made.

The grapes are harvested when fully ripe, sorted, slowly pressed and removed from the lees for 48 hours before the juice ferments. Most Chablis ferment and mature in stainless steel, as is typical for the region. Only selected crus are matured in wood. This results in wines with great minerality and deep fruit, with energy, tension and pressure, saltiness and rock spice, reflecting the soils characterised by Kimmerdige limestone.

photos: Domaine Billaud-Simon