2003 Chablis Vaudésir Grand Cru

.Always one of my favorite sources for pure, minerally, elegant Chablis made in stainless steel, Billaud-Simon has produced a very precise set of 2004s."We can compare this vintage to 1998," Samuel Billaud told me."It possesses good minerality; the wines are strict and incisive and will be very good with time in bottle.But they are not big and enveloping wines."Billaud was one of several producers who told me that because he carried out a longer-than-average debourbage in 2004, the sugar fermentations were more difficult, as many of the wild yeasts that came in on the fruit were left behind during the settling of the juice prior to fermentation.The 2004 grand crus here will not be bottled until next May.Billaud told me that he was tempted to bottle the 2003s earlier than normal, in November of last year, but ultimately waited; the last of the grand crus were only bottled a few weeks before my visit.The 2003s clarified well, noted Billaud, and the crus were not filtered.Several of these wines are surprisingly fresh and minerally for the year.(Langdon-Shiverick, Cleveland, OH)

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