x
  • Country ranking ?

    1 507
  • Producer ranking ?

    3
  • Decanting time

    1h
  • When to drink

    now to 2030
  • Food Pairing

    Scallops

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The Story

The Chablis wine region stretches along the Serein valley and across 19 communes. Chablis, known as the “Golden Gate of Burgundy”, is dedicated to the production of a clear, aromatic, fresh white wine whose name is synonym of “minerality”. 

Terroir: Grand Cru Les Clos is the most famous of Chablis’ vineyards. The vineyard covers 26 hectares of relatively steep hillside with an exposure south/southeast. Domaine Billaud-Simon’s plot is approximately .4 hectares. Soils here well drained and are made up primarily kimmeridgian (clay and limestone). 

Vinification: Manual harvesting is carried out at optimum ripeness levels (between 12 and 13°). The grapes are pressed in our pneumatic press and the musts then undergo cold maceration for a 5 to 7 day period before being settled and vinified. The alcoholic fermentation lasts between 15 to 18 days at the Domaine. The malolactic fermentation is usually initiated in December. The wine is aged for around 14 months including a period of time in French oak barrels if necessary. The wine is racked twice before being bottled in late autumn.

 

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Vintage 2001

2001 VINTAGE in Burgundy

A promising start to the new millennium...
 

Growing season and weather conditions

The winter, during which the vines lay dormant, was a mild one.

The first signs of bud-burst came early but wintry conditions in April accompanied by frosts in the most exposed vineyards slowed down the start of the growing season.

Spring, from May onwards, was marked by periods of fine sunny weather.

The first flowers appeared, precociously, at the beginning of June, but the process was then slowed by a recurrence of low temperatures. Flowering was thus spread out over a period of some two weeks and the resulting unevenness in the progress of maturation persisted until harvest-time.

The natural weight of the crop burden led many growers to resort to green thinning ("vendanges en vert") - cutting out superfluous grape bunches at an early stage to ensure a harvest lower in volume but higher in quality.

Maturation and harvest
July was cool and rainy. Summer only really arrived in August with sometimes scorching heat and high levels of recorded sunshine. Violent rain- and hail-storms caused significant damage to the vines in some localities.

Maturation proceeded under favourable circumstances and the physical condition of the grapes remained good.

A slight drop in temperature at the beginning of September together with some light rain meant that in choosing the right moment to begin picking, growers needed to be alert and exercise great judgement (given uneven maturation and changeable weather conditions), and to make the best use of dry and sunny periods.

The need to wait, in some cases, for the moment of optimum ripeness meant that the harvest period was prolonged. Maturity was variable with sugar levels ranging from moderate to very good, good levels of acidity, and variable polyphenol levels in the red wines.

Estimated yield totals 1.5 million hectolitres, a slightly lower volume than the 2000 and 2001 harvests.

Vinification and character of the wines
Vinification of the white wines proceded in a lesisurely manner and without incident. The red wines demanded more attention in order to extract the maximum potential from their colouring matter and tannins.

As of mid-November, the white wines are fine and straightforward, well-balanced with good concentration and well-developed fruit backed by firm acidity.

The reds are vividly and intensely coloured. They have a well-defined structure thanks to firm tannins and a good level of acidity. They are meaty, with agreeable and expressive fruit.

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

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Written Notes

Bigger and richer than the Vaudésir with beautifully intense and nicely pure aromas that have less obvious sweetness to them. The flavors are thick, indeed almost chewy in texture with a wet stones and intense minerality character to them and this has a fine, long, persistent finish. This is very good if not exceptional for the vintage and if offers excellent delineation. It should repay 4 to 6 years of cellar time.

I met with Bernard Billaud who commented that neither 2000 nor 2001 were ideal at harvest time. He went on to explain that in his view, heat brings sugar but it is light that brings finesse and both vintages could have used a bit more of one or the other. Billaud surprisingly describes 2001 as producing average yields and wines that are "good but fragile and without the structure for long aging." He further explained that he was worried about the vintage at the beginning but that the slow malos have brought harmony plus enough structure and balance that it should be an above average, if not necessarily great, vintage. Interestingly, Billaud believes that 1991 is the best vintage parallel because they too were a bit thin at first but with age, put on weight. By contrast, Billaud describes 2000 as a much more structured and classically styled vintage that should age well but one that has sufficient fat to be approachable young. While he likes the 2000 vintage and is of the view that 2000 is certainly superior to 2001, he does not claim greatness for it either. Interestingly, Billaud went on to say that while 2000 is clearly better at the Petit Chablis and Chablis levels, it is only marginally better at the premier and grand cru levels. There is a large, modern, state-of-the-art cuvérie and for the 2001 vintage, Billaud proudly showed me the new conveyor belt system which replaces the old pumps to move fruit to the presses. The grapes at this 20 ha domaine are harvested by hand and machine though Billaud takes pains to point out that all of the premiers and grands crus are harvested exclusively by hand. After a relatively long, low temperature débourbage (though Billaud said that he extended the period even longer in 2001 because he was worried about the quality of the lees), fermentation takes place in tank (though a few cuvées are partially vinified in cask though none are new) with minimal bâtonnage over the 18 month élevage period; the élevage itself is also largely in steel tanks but a few of the cuvées (so noted below) see wood. The wines are then bottled after a light fining and filtration.

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Origin

Chablis, Burgundy
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