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

Samuel Billaud has become one of Chablis's standout producers since setting up in a gravity-fed winery once belonging to Stéphane Moreau-Naudet, right in the heart of the appellation. Deep family roots let him source fruit from an enviable list of top sites, including estate parcels and purchased grapes from grand crus like Les Preuses, Les Clos, and Blanchots, with his premier and grand cru wines typically aged in a modest portion of large-format oak alongside stainless steel.

Les Preuses takes its name from an old term for a stone quarry, and Billaud's fruit here comes from vines more than sixty years old planted near the border with Bougros. The notoriously difficult 2024 vintage brought spring frost, repeated hail, and heavy rain that pushed mildew pressure across the region, driving yields down sharply, yet Billaud found the resulting wines showed unusual concentration. The grapes are gently pressed and fermented with native yeasts, then aged partly in cask and partly in tank to preserve freshness.

The finished wine is ethereal and perfumed, with aromas ranging from ripe pear and greengage plum to acacia flowers and spice, layered with white flowers, lemon oil, and Granny Smith apple. A distinctly oceanic, saline quality runs through the palate alongside warm stone minerality. Give it time in the cellar, and pour it with oysters, raw shellfish, or a delicate white fish.