2024 Samuel Billaud - Chablis Grand Terroir (750ml) [PRE ARRIVAL]

Samuel Billaud comes from one of Chablis's best known winemaking families and spent nearly two decades as winemaker at the family's Domaine Billaud-Simon before striking out on his own in 2009. In 2014 he recovered his share of the family's vineyards after the original estate was sold to Faiveley, and he has since built a reputation as one of the region's most precise and talented producers, focused on letting each individual site express itself clearly.

Les Grands Terroirs is a blend of grapes from three well-regarded village vineyards, all bordering premier cru sites: Les Pargues and Les Cartes on the left bank of the Serein, and the lower slopes of Chapelot on the right bank, adjacent to Billaud's grand cru holdings. The vines were planted between 1952 and 1987 on classic Chablis limestone soils. Each parcel is vinified separately in oak barrels, then the wine is transferred to stainless steel for several months before blending and bottling, a step meant to sharpen its freshness and tension.

The wine shows pure green apple and citrus aromas layered with beeswax and a touch of almond, joined by notes of lemon peel and stone fruit. The palate is rich yet tightly wound, with bright acidity carrying through to a long, saline, mineral finish.