Samuel Billaud Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons Vieilles Vignes 2024
We have 6 in stock (Inventory is live and accurate)
The Land
Chablis is closer to Champagne than to Beaune, and its best soils were laid down as seabed. Vaillons sits on the left bank of the Serein, just southwest of the town, one of the largest and most important premier crus on that side of the river. Its slopes face mostly southeast, catching morning sun, over Kimmeridgian marl and limestone packed with the fossilized shells of tiny Exogyra virgula oysters. That ancient seabed is the source of the saline, chalky snap that defines premier cru Chablis, and Vaillons tends to pair it with a slightly rounder, sunnier fruit profile than the steep right-bank sites such as Montée de Tonnerre.
The Wine
Samuel Billaud Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons Vieilles Vignes 2024 is 100% Chardonnay from old vines. In past vintages this cuvée has been fermented in tank with no oak, letting the site speak without wood, and Billaud favors long aging on the lees for texture. 2024 was one of the hardest years in recent Chablis history: frost, hail, mildew, rainfall roughly 50% above normal through August, two floods in the town, and a regional crop expected at under half of 2023. The wines that survived are lean, fresh, and pure, built on grapefruit and lemon rather than ripe fruit. Expect lemon peel, white peach, and wet chalk, with taut acidity and a saline, slightly bitter finish. Bottled at 13% alcohol.
The People
The Billaud family has farmed in Chablis since 1815, and Samuel Billaud made the wines at the family's Domaine Billaud-Simon from 1985, building its reputation as one of the purest producers in the appellation. He launched wines under his own name around 2009, starting by buying grapes. When Domaine Faiveley bought Billaud-Simon in 2014, Samuel kept part of the family share and recovered vineyards he had worked for decades, including grand cru plots in Les Clos and Vaudésir. His style stays at the tight, mineral end of Chablis, with minimal oak, parcel-by-parcel bottlings, and early picking to protect acidity.
Food Pairing
Raw oysters with a shallot mignonette are the textbook match; the Kimmeridgian salinity mirrors the brine. Sole meunière, pan-fried in brown butter with capers and lemon, lets the acidity cut the butter. A scallop crudo with olive oil, flaky salt, and grapefruit segments echoes the citrus core, and a wedge of aged Comté shows off the chalky finish. Buy two: one for a seafood dinner this winter and one to open in five years.
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Chablis, a village and region in northern Burgundy, is all about Chardonnay, making arguably the best unoaked versions in the world. The wines here are defined by a crisp acidity and a strong mineral backbone. The area's unique Kimmeridgian limestone soil, packed with marine fossils, gives the wines a distinctive flinty edge. One slope overlooking the village holds the seven Grand Cru vineyards, while Premier Cru sites are scattered along both sides of the Sereine River, which cuts the region in half. Chablis is the ultimate destination for highly mineral white wines.
Burgundy - Chablis
Chardonnay, one of the world's most versatile and beloved white grape varieties, showcases a remarkable spectrum of styles, from the lean, mineral-driven expressions of Chablis in France to the rich, buttery, and oak-aged versions from California's Napa Valley. Its adaptability extends to cooler climates such as Burgundy, where it achieves elegance and complexity, and to regions like Australia's Yarra Valley, known for producing vibrant and fruit-forward renditions. This grape's ability to reflect its terroir, coupled with winemaking techniques, results in a wide array of profiles, including unoaked, crisp varieties with apple and citrus notes, to full-bodied wines with tropical fruit flavors and creamy textures.
