2002 Chablis Vaudésir Grand Cru

This consistently excellent domaine harvested on the late side in 2003, beginning on September 6. For us, the fruit was not yet ripe at the end of August," Bernard Billaud maintained. The rain on the 30th unblocked the maturity; it liberated the juice," he went on. The acidity levels fell just after the rain, then climbed again as the vines re-found their balance.Actually, we would not have been able to acidify the musts if the fruit had not been ripe enough."Billaud believes that the 2003s will be very stable wines due to their sheer power and material. The risk in 2003 is to have the alcohol dominate the wines' fruit and minerality," noted Billaud. But if you picked after the rain, you had a much better chance to make wines that are not dominated by their alcohol."Billaud compared the 2003s to the '47s, another growing season that featured extreme heat. The security is to drink the 2003s young, but they may well have a second existence, like the '47s, which were very confusing early on."(Langdon-Shiverick, Cleveland OH

Vintage 2002 was made in September," Samuel Billaud told me in early June, echoing a sentiment I heard repeatedly in Chablis and on the Cote d'Or. There was no rot and we were in a position to wait for thorough ripeness," he added. It was a relaxing harvest. How good is the vintage? The 2002s will take three or four years to open, and it will not be until then that we can really judge it." Billaud-Simon carried out a severe ebourgeonnage to reduce the 2002 crop level and ultimately had yields mostly in the 50 hectoliters-per-hectare range (and some significantly lower) - quite reasonable for the vintage. Acidity levels were sound, ranging as high as 4.2 grams per liter for the grand crus. The 2002s had been fined a few days prior to my visit, and were showing the house's trademark purity and precision. I did not taste the Tete d'Or or Blanchots, as these wines were still in the middle of their secondary fermentations. It must be noted that the Billaud-Simon 2001s include some of the purest wines I tasted from this vintage. Billaud told me he did a 15-day debourbage at 32oF, ultimately keeping much less of the lees than he did in 2002. (Langdon-Shiverick, Cleveland, OH)