Notes:
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
Producer: Samuel Billaud comes from one of Chablis’s established winemaking families and spent nearly 20 years making wine at Domaine Billaud-Simon before establishing his own domaine. He began producing wines under his own name in 2009, later expanding his holdings following the sale of Billaud-Simon to Domaine Faiveley in 2014. Today, Billaud works with vineyards across the Chablis hierarchy, including village parcels and multiple Premier Cru and Grand Cru sites. His approach emphasizes precision, freshness, and mineral definition, with individual parcels vinified according to their character rather than following a single élevage formula for every wine. Stainless steel plays an important role in preserving purity and freshness, while larger-format oak is used selectively, particularly for higher-level wines. Les Grands Terroirs is his principal village-level Chablis and is made from 100% Chardonnay. The 2023 is listed at 12.5% alcohol.
Vineyard: Les Grands Terroirs is particularly interesting for a village Chablis because it combines fruit from three distinct sectors on both banks of the Serein River: Les Pargues, Les Cartes-Fontenottes, and Bas de Chapelot. Les Pargues lies on the left bank near Préhy; Les Cartes is situated between the Premier Cru sectors of Vaillons and Montmains; and Bas de Chapelot lies on the right bank directly below Montée de Tonnerre Premier Cru. Decanter reports approximately 5 hectares contributing to the cuvée, with roughly 2 hectares of domaine fruit and 3 hectares of purchased grapes. These sites sit within Chablis’s limestone-rich landscape, where Kimmeridgian limestone and marl are fundamental to the appellation’s terroir and help produce Chardonnay with pronounced acidity, mineral tension, and saline character. The 2023 vintage produced generous, ripe fruit while retaining the freshness needed for classical Chablis, and the combination is particularly evident here. Critics consistently describe the wine as energetic and mineral, with citrus and white-fruit character, a saline palate, and a precise, dry finish. The blend of parcels from both sides of the Serein also gives Billaud several complementary components to work with rather than relying on a single village site.
Winemaking: The 2023 Les Grands Terroirs was vinified entirely in stainless steel, an important distinction from some of Billaud’s Premier Cru and Grand Cru wines where larger-format oak can play a greater role. Wine Advocate specifically confirms steel vinification for the 2023. This approach keeps the focus on Chardonnay fruit, acidity, and the mineral and saline qualities of the three vineyard sectors without introducing significant oak flavor. Lees contact contributes additional texture and depth while preserving the wine’s clean, direct profile. The finished wine is consistently described as lively, stony, saline, and tightly structured, with citrus, nectarine, white fruit, and mineral notes. Burghound emphasizes its volume and vibrant stony character, while Decanter highlights purity, lemon peel, nectarine, freshness, and persistent tension.
Food Pairing: The wine’s high acidity, saline character, citrus profile, and mineral finish make it particularly well suited to seafood and lighter preparations. Pair with oysters, littleneck clams, mussels, crab, shrimp, scallops, grilled branzino, Dover sole, sushi, ceviche, smoked trout, goat cheese, roast chicken, or grilled asparagus. Its combination of freshness and texture also works well with seafood in light butter or cream sauces.
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