2023 Samuel Billaud - Chablis Preuses (750ml) (PRE ARRIVAL)

Samuel Billaud struck out on his own in 2009 after years as winemaker at Billaud-Simon, and has quickly become one of the names on everyone's lips in Chablis. Les Preuses — widely considered the most elegant of the Grand Crus — comes from a single plot of 60-year-old vines cropped at a punishingly low 45 hl/ha, given an extended 18-month elevage with a touch of new oak (about 15%) to build texture without masking the fruit. The 2023 leans slightly tropical compared to Billaud's Blanchot, but that signature marine minerality still floods through: oyster juice, wet stone, lemon peel, nectarine, and white flowers on the nose, with a medium-to-full-bodied, incisive palate, racy acidity, and a long, lemon-driven finish. A benchmark bottling from a domaine at the top of its game.

95 points, Neal Martin, Vinous (2023)