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

Samuel Billaud has built his reputation from a gravity-fed winery in the heart of Chablis, once home to Stéphane Moreau-Naudet, gently handling wines sourced from an outstanding collection of vineyards, including holdings and purchased fruit across the appellation's top grand crus. Les Clos, widely regarded as the grandest of Chablis's grand crus for its power and structure, sits alongside Vaudésir and Blanchots among the sites Billaud draws on to build a range that critics have compared favorably to benchmark producers like François Raveneau and Vincent Dauvissat.

The 2024 vintage tested every grower in Chablis, with spring frost, hail, and near-constant rain driving yields down to historic lows. Billaud reported that his Les Clos parcel came in at around five hectoliters per hectare, among the lowest yields anywhere in the appellation that year. Despite the punishing conditions, he found the resulting wines showed remarkable concentration, comparing 2024 to the classically saline 2014 vintage. In the cellar, the grand cru wines typically age in a mix of large-format oak and stainless steel, with just enough wood, around 15% new, to add texture without masking the site's character.

Given Les Clos's reputation for depth and power, expect a wine built on that same muscular salinity and tautness Billaud found across his top 2024 cuvées, with the density and structure to reward patience in the cellar. It's a natural partner for richer seafood dishes, like lobster or scallops in a butter sauce.