Samuel Billaud 2023
The wines were electric from day one. It was a classic phoenix-rising-from-the-ashes story, impossible to miss—a new legend had been born: Maison Samuel Billaud, and demand followed immediately.
I vividly remember begging the importer for a few cases of Samuel’s first vintage of Montée de Tonnerre, only to be told, “I can give you one case. The rest is being poured by the glass at Eleven Madison Park.” I was thrilled to get any at all, and I’ve purchased the wines every vintage since.
It’s quite a story to reflect on, given where things stand today.
Every great domaine has an origin story. For Samuel Billaud, it began with frustration, a family rupture, and a brilliantly executed exit. For years, Samuel was the hands-on force behind the historic Domaine Billaud-Simon, an estate his family had stewarded for generations. After his father’s passing, ownership was split between Samuel and his aunt and uncle. His aunt lived in Paris and was largely absent, while his uncle was firmly committed to maintaining the status quo.
In 2014, the powerhouse négociant Faiveley came knocking with what was essentially a blank check. What followed unfolded quickly: the domaine was sold. His aunt and uncle took the money and moved on. Samuel, still a young man, stayed put in Chablis with a very different vision.
Already deeply connected to the vineyards and growers of Chablis—and having quietly begun making small quantities of wine from purchased grapes—Samuel played the transition masterfully. He negotiated to retain four hectares of the estate’s finest vineyards, including prized parcels in Montée de Tonnerre, Mont de Milieu, and Séchets. With that foundation in place, Maison Samuel Billaud emerged fully formed: focused, precise, and uncompromising.
I make it a point to visit Samuel whenever I’m in Chablis. He’s a quiet man, sparing with words, but that’s perfectly fine—the wines speak loudly on his behalf.
These are classically styled, mineral-driven Chablis with remarkable freshness and tension, always carrying that unmistakable whisper of sea breeze. From top to bottom, the 2023 lineup is stunning. The Chablis “Les Grands Terroirs,” sourced from plots above the Grand Cru Les Clos, puts many Premier Crus to shame.
The star of the cellar, Montée de Tonnerre, comes from a parcel bordering François Raveneau and is, without question, one of the finest expressions of the vineyard being produced today.
Do not overlook the Séchets. This cuvée comes from a parcel of vines over 100 years old, preserved when Samuel traded away his small holding in Blanchot (Grand Cru) to keep Séchets intact. Anyone familiar with these wines knows just how special this bottling can be—a point underscored in a recent note from Kristaps Karklins, the new wine writer for The Wine Advocate.
I firmly believe Chablis offers some of the best value in White Burgundy today. Chosen wisely, it delivers world-class quality at a fraction of the price of Puligny or Meursault. The 2023s from Samuel Billaud are utterly thrilling, and anyone serious about White Burgundy would be smart to be adding these to their cellar. Across the range, these wines represent some of the finest expressions currently being produced in Chablis, and they come with my highest recommendation.
Moderate reduction pushes the underlying fruit to the background today. On the palate there is excellent volume to the vibrant and equally stony medium weight flavors that also conclude in a chiseled, bone-dry and sneaky long finale. This is a potentially outstanding villages and worth your interest.
- Burghound, 89-92 Outstanding Top Value
The 2023 Chablis Mont de Milieu ler Cru underwent partial wood aging and was bottled in May 2025. This sports a clever, subtle reduction on the nose that releases energy into the aromatics. The palate is well defined with gentle grip and more depth than the Les Fourneaux. This is a little flinty in style, with quite the persistent finish. The 2023 has great potential.
- Vinous Media, 92
This is aromatically at once markedly ripe yet super-fresh with its array of white peach, pear and lemon-lime confit that also reflects just enough Chablis character to remind you where this is from. There is once again fine mid-palate density to the solidly powerful mineral-driven flavors that display fine length on the balanced finale that is not especially dry or austere. This harmonious and already nicely complex effort should easily repay up to a decade of keeping.
- Burghound, 91-93 Sweet Spot Outstanding!
The 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Mont de Milieu is sourced from three south-facing plots of 35- to 70-year-old vines. It’s aged 80% in tank, with the remainder in three-year-old 500-liter barrels, spending the last six months in tank, amounting to a total of 18 months on the lees. Informed by low yields, it soars from the glass with a complex bouquet of grapefruit zest, beeswax and oyster shell, mingling with white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, taut and precise, it shows considerable depth, a chalky core and a long, mouthwatering finish. This wine can be a little austere in its early days, but it is turning out very well.
- Kristaps Karklins, 92-93
The 2023 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre ler Cru has a vivacious bouquet that's more complex than the Montmains. It's delineated and focused with wonderful mineralité, scents of lime flower, citrus peel and orange blossom. The palate is very well balanced with a quicksilver line of acidity, fine depth and a harmonious, saline finish. The 2023 is beautiful.
- Vinous Media, 93
An elegant, pure and airy nose possesses more obvious Chablis character with its wet stone, shellfish, brine and iodine-suffused nose. There is more refinement, if less volume and power, to the beautifully textured middle weight flavors that conclude in a sneaky long, balanced and altogether classy finale.
- Burghound, 91-93 Sweet Spot Outstanding!
Another brilliant wine from Samuel Billaud, and one of the most classically Chablisien in character, the 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Séchet Vieilles Vignes derives from 90-year-old vines, the oldest of the domaine, and is aged entirely in steel for 18 months. Opening in the glass to reveal a bouquet of lemon zest, oyster shell, white flowers and crushed chalk, it’s compact and chiseled, with extraordinary purity, a bright, incisive line of acidity and a strikingly sapid, mouthwatering finish. Chablis purists will want to seek this out urgently, as it ranks among Billaud’s finest premiers crus this year.
- Kristaps Karklins, 93-94
Restrained aromas of citrus confit, iodine, spice and apple give way to strikingly textured and slightly denser medium-bodied flavors that flash evident power that builds on the bitter lemon-inflected finish that is markedly dry, sleek and balanced. The Billaud Séchet is virtually always excellent and the 2023 vintage should be no exception.
- Burghound, 93
