Domaine Billaud-Simon Chablis Tête d’Or 2019

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Tête d’Or is sourced from 28 year old vines from a domaine-owned a south/southeast facing 3 hectare parcel at the foot of the Montée de Tonnerre 1er Cru in the heart of the Chablis appellation.

Grapes are manually harvested, pressed and macerated at cool temperatures for 7 days. Fermentation entirely in temperature controlled stainless steel. The wine is aged for 12 months in 80% stainless steel, 20% oak.

About Billaud-Simon

Domaine Billaud-Simon in Chablis is comprised of about 42 acres, encompassing four Grands Crus vineyards, including one acre in Les Clos; one acre in Les Preuses; 1.75 acres in Vaudésir; and .44 acre in Les Blanchots. The Domaine also owns four Premiers Crus vineyards, including Montée de Tonnèrre, Mont-de-Milieu, Fourchaume and Vaillons. In addition to its crus wines, Domaine Billaud-Simon makes a Chablis Villages “Tête d’Or”, with grapes harvested exclusively from the estate.

In 1815, at the end of the Napoleonic wars, Charles Louis Noël Billaud returned home to Chablis and founded Domaine Billaud-Simon. There, thanks to his family’s holdings, he planted the first vines. Then, a little more than a century later in the 1930s, the Domaine’s vineyards were enlarged with the marriage of his descendant Jean Billaud to Renée Simon.

Located close to the Serein River, Jean Billaud’s son, Bernard, took over the estate until its acquisition by Domaine Faiveley in July 2014. Since then, Domaine Billaud-Simon is managed separately from Domaine Faiveley: It has its own vineyard, winemaking facilities and remains dedicated to uphold the same style of the wines while continually striving to improve their quality. Along with technical improvements in the modern winery, manual grape picking is increasingly being practiced for their Grands Crus and selected Premiers Crus.

The Chablis wines of Domaine Billaud-Simon exhibit elegance, balance and pure Chardonnay fruit. Delicious when young, they evolve beautifully with some ageing.

Faiveley purchased the Domaine in 2013, bottling, but, not making the 2013’s. The changes saw a shift to harvesting the fruit earlier–with better nerve and natural acidity–than would have been the case here under Bernard Billaud. Since the acquisition, the wines have gone from strength to strength.

The 2019 Vintage at Billaud-Simon

SUN-DRENCHED GRAPES FOR A RICH AND WELL-BALANCED VINTAGE

The 2019 vintage was another warm and sunny year that delivered fresh, rich and beautifully ripe wines. They disclose good concentration without any loss of acidity on the palate and have excellent cellaring potential. Inexplicably, this warm and dry vintage sets itself apart from other similarly warm and dry vintages due to classic pHs – the only theory being with a run of warm vintages the vines have adapted to the new norm; average alcohol levels were 13.5%.

The 2019 yields were down as much as 50% compared to 2018 due to April frost. Olivier Bailly said picking dates were important; picking took place between September 12 to 19. Picking times too were critical, the Domaine only picked in the mornings commencing at 4:00am. The Domaine prefers to capture freshness and the saline/iodine character of the kimmeridgian.

The 2019s whilst classical from a warm and dry vintage are similar to 2014 in some respects and will drink beautifully now with their abundant fruit flavors or cellar over several decades.

Where in the World are Billaud-Simon’s Vineyards?

All of the parcels at Domaine Billaud-Simon are planted within a two kilometre radius, on the left and right banks of the Serein, in the heart of this historical appellation. The Domaine currently counts four Grands Crus: Les Clos, Vaudésir, Les Preuses and Les Blanchots as well as four Premiers Crus: Montée de Tonnerre, Fourchaume, Mont de Milieu and Les Vaillons. It also produces wines from Petit Chablis and Chablis, including the “Tête d’Or”.