tasting / laying down / 2021 Burgundy CHABLIS
SAMUEL BILLAUD
Samuel Billaud used a team of 40 to hand-harvest and insisted on the need for strict selection to remove botrytized grapes in 2021. He fermented and aged his village and lighter premiers crus in stainless steel, while the Mont de Milieu, Montée de Tonnerre, and grands crus have around 20% of oak-aging in 450-liter barrels, depending on the cuvée; he favors the artisanal Burgundian cooper, Chassin. “It’s question of the complexity of the wine and the palate shape,” he explained. In response to the small harvest, he used stainless-steel barrels for aging 80% of the grands crus in 2021.
Chablis Premier Cru Mont de Milieu Vieilles Vignes
Smoothly rounded and creamy. Lemon curd underscored with smooth wet-stone minerals, carrying a nicely sustained finish. 2025–30. | 90–91
Chablis Premier Cru Montée de Tonnerre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
Punches onto the strong mid-palate, with a super- salty, oyster-shell, ozone finish. 2025–30+. | 92
Chablis Premier Cru Séchet From 80-year-old vines inherited from his great- grandmother. Taut and vivacious. Pithy. Crisp edges and sharp, dry-stone minerality. 2024–30. | 89
Chablis Grand Cru Blanchots
A fine, intense, floral aroma. Volume and airy lightness on the palate. Vivid, detailed, and lacy, with a fine, sea-spray finish. The vintage suits it well. 2026–33. | 93+
Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses
Creamy, pink-rose-petal aroma, and a scented, silky, and sensual palate. So seductive, with a sumptuous pink finish. Such creamy allure. But I like the Blanchots even more. 2026–33. | 93
DOMAINE VINCENT DAUVISSAT All the selection is done in the vineyard, with 30 people for the harvest. Fermentation and malolactic are in stainless steel, then the wines go into barrel in February. The grands crus are aged in pièces for nine months, while the other wines are aged in a mixture of feuillettes (traditional Chablis barrels of 132 liters) and pièces for six months. Bottling is after the second winter, with filtration but no fining.
Petit Chablis
The vines come from a parcel above Les Clos on the plateau behind the wood. Light, bright, nervy, salty, sea-breeze wine. Love it. Top-notch Petit Chablis. 2023–26. | 85
Chablis
The vines are opposite Les Forêts, facing northwest. Fennel aroma. Good intensity on the palate, with notes of lime oil and a feathering of dill. Bittersweet, with a dry-stone finish. 2024–29. | 86–87
178 | THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 79 | 2023
Chablis Premier Cru Vosgros Sweet citrus fruit blends with the stony minerality and lots of crushed oyster shell. I like the marine quality. Sharp minerality. Very pure. 2025–28. | 87
Deep aroma, with a hint of warm spice. Lithe muscle. Full-bodied, dense, and svelte, underpinned with cutting acidity. Vigorous, fresh, graphite persistence. 2027–35+. | 94
Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses
Smooth and gliding. White-peach and floral aromas. A silken line, woven with super-fresh acidity, and finishing with a straight, persistent, sharp and salty sea-shell finish. 2027–35+. | 93
DOMAINE JP & B DROIN Benoît Droin likes to harvest early and in 2021 started on September 17 (in Vaillons). He also bottles early, before the following harvest. There is always a touch oak, but it is still a relatively small amount, as most of the cuvées are aged mainly in stainless steel, with between 30% and 50% oak, of which a fraction is new, and even then, not on all the wines. “I tried oak on Vosgros,” explained Benoît, “but it never worked. We lost freshness and energy.” So, it is aged only in stainless steel. “2021 is classic Chablis, without big body. A style of vintage like 2007.” We tasted some 2001 and 2007, and 2021 bears more resemblance to 2007.
Chablis Premier Cru
Vaucoupin and Côte de Lechet were pressed together, as there were insufficient quantities for separate cuvées. A floral, silky, pure, and elegant wine. It’s nervy, with sweet citrus freshness on the finish. 2025–29. | 88
Chablis Premier Cru Montmains
Smooth, lightly rounded body, undercut with firm, fresh acidity. Carries to a silex finish. 2027–30. | 88
From north-facing old vines. Sherbet aroma. Pure, vivid, high-wired; piercing, with a razor, saline finish. Very stylish. 2026–32+. | 88
Chablis Premier Cru Montée de Tonnerre
A lithe and muscular jump onto the palate. Compact and channeled, with good density on the mid-palate. A strong wine, with a sharp, lead- pencil finish. 2027–35. | 91–92
Chablis Premier Cru Montmains
From all three lieux-dits. Light floral and litchee aromas. The palate is direct, vibrant, and well-cut, super-fresh and marked by a chalky, dry-stone, sappy character. Pushes well. 2026–32+. | 88
Chablis Premier Cru La Forêt
Very energetic, fresh, and zesty. Firm, with cool grip and a hint of silex, grapefruit-like acidity, and vibrant tension on the finish. 2024–30+. | 91–92
Chablis Premier Cru Montée de Tonnerre Chablis Grand Cru Hommage à Louis
Stony and reserved. Compact but layered, with shivering tension. The slicing acidity highlights the smoky gunflint minerality. A long shiver on the oyster-shell finish. 2026–35. | 92–93
Chablis Premier Cru Séchet Chablis Grand Cru Valmur
Taut, straight, and pure. Super-precise. Slippery wet-stone minerality. It has a lively, flighty feel. So stylish. 2024–30. | 91
Chablis Premier Cru Vaillons Chablis Grand Cru Vaudésir
Floral, orange-blossom aroma, with an airy but rounded palate, which straightens into an energetic, slightly succulent finish. 2024–30. | 90–91
Rippling and perfumed, with a cold cut of dry-stone minerality coming up under the silky texture. A shimmering stretch into the finish, which is long and salty, carried on an ozone breeze. My favorite wine here. 2028–35+. | 93
DOMAINE WILLIAM FÈVRE Everything is fermented and undergoes malolactic in tank, after which the premiers and grands crus have 30% oak-aging, never in new oak, but in barrels between three and four years old, inherited from sister-house Bouchard Père et Fils in Beaune. “It is only for the exchange with oxygen, which helps the expression of terroir. I want to stay focused on freshness,” says Didier Séguier. After six to seven months in barrel, as part of a 20-month elévage, the wines are blended in November the following year and kept a second winter in tank before bottling in April or May— quite late for Chablis. “We are not pushed for time. We like to keep it a long time on lees for more complexity and aging potential, and a better expression of Chablis.” Since 2010, everything has been bottled under Diam closures.
Chablis
From 50 plots of old vines (40–50 years old). Zesty, pure, and super-straight, with so much energy and intensity for a village wine. 2025–27. | 85
Chablis Premier Cru Les Lys
Broad and hefty. Rather square and super-grippy, with an austere, punchy finish. Muscle-wine, but not as long as the Vaudésir. 2027–35. | 93
From three parcels in Les Clos dating back to 1922. Rich and glossy, with density, volume, and a long, smoky, silex finish. There is succulence and subtlety as well as some elegance. 2028–35+. | 93–94
Chablis Grand Cru Grenouilles
Quite some concentration, and a rich depth of texture. Full-bodied but not at all austere. Enveloped in a rich and spicy cloak, but with a shorter finish than the Valmur or Vaudésir. 2027–35. | 91–92
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