Chablis Les Clos 2001

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.