2022 Billaud-Simon - Chablis Montee de Tonnerre (750ml)

Domaine Billaud-Simon has made wine in Chablis since 1815, when Charles Louis Noël Billaud founded the estate after returning from the Napoleonic wars. The domaine grew substantially in the 1930s following the marriage of his grandson Jean Billaud to Renée Simon, whose name joined the label. Erwan and Eve Faiveley bought the estate in 2014, and today it is run by estate manager Olivier Bailly, who continues the house's precise, mineral-driven style.

Montée de Tonnerre lies along the old Roman road toward Tonnerre, extending the line of Chablis's grand crus and often considered the most complete of the premier crus. Billaud-Simon farms about 2.15 hectares across three sectors, including some of the oldest vines in the Pied d'Aloup climat, on Kimmeridgian limestone-clay soil. The wine is usually raised entirely in tank, though the 2022 saw a small six percent aged in barrel.

The 2022 is pure and crystalline on both nose and palate, with real drive and energy and just a faint touch of wood that adds texture rather than flavor. It shows peach, apple, lemon, and oyster shell, with a fresh herb lift and a long, kaleidoscopic finish. This is an intense, complex Chablis that should reward several years of cellaring.