Domaine Billaud-Simon Les Vaillons, Chablis Premier Cru, France

比約西蒙維佑園（夏布利一級(jí)園）干白葡萄酒

點(diǎn)擊次數(shù)：11069

The domaine's old-vine holdings have produced a very fine 2017 Chablis 1er Cru Les Vaillons, a pretty wine unfurling with notes of fresh peach, honeysuckle and white currants. It's medium-bodied, pure and precise, with an elegantly textural attack and a delicate core of fruit. Like most of the range, this is still a little introverted after its bottling, so cellar it for a few years.

More elegant and open-knit than the Tête d'Or bottling, the 2016 Chablis 1er Cru Les Vaillons offers up notes of Meyer lemon, fresh peach and spring flowers. On the palate, it's delicate, medium-bodied and stony, in an easygoing, charming style.

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.

VINTAGE MISMATCH---- The 2014 Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons has a focused, orange-blossom and lemongrass-tinged bouquet that is well-defined with admirable vigor. The palate is charged with bitter lemon on the entry. I like the weight here, the salinity that surges toward the finish and begs you to take another sip. This is a well-crafted Vaillons that should age nicely over the next decade.

The 2012 Chablis 1er Cru Les Vaillons comes from 3.55 hectares of 30-year-old vines cropped at 58 hectoliters per hectare and sees 15 months in stainless steel. It has a very elegant and feminine bouquet with scents of orange zest, dried apricot and a hint of honey. The palate is well-balanced with that orange zest embroidered from start to finish. Linear, and focused, his is a very fine Vaillons. Drink now-2020. It is confusing having both a Samuel Billaud and a Billaud-Simon producing wines in Chablis, but unfortunately that is the case while the intra-family dispute goes on. One hopes it is resolved sooner rather than later. Charles Louis Noel Billaud established the estate in 1815, thereby making it one of the forefathers of the region. Bernard Billaud returned to the domaine in 1991, whereupon he seized the opportunity to ratchet up the quality by installing a pneumatic press and stainless steel tanks. I have tasted the wines regularly here in the UK and they have always been impressive. For sure, the 2012s were perhaps a little more inconsistent due to the challenges of the growing season. But the grand crus certainly deliver where it matters – in the glass – while I appreciate the premier crus remaining true to their respective terroirs. Post-script: As this report went to print, news filtered through with regard to the sale of Domaine Billaud-Simon to Maison Faiveley, giving them a strong foothold in the region. How this will impact Samuel Billaud remains to be seen, though it clearly thwarts any hopes of him returning to farming the vines that he once tended (wouldn’t it be a twist if Faiveley subsequently appointed him winemaker!). Exact details are yet to emerge, but hopefully all parties can move forward. Importer: Langdon Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA; tel. (213) 483-5900