2012 Chablis Vaudésir Grand Cru

The big news at Billaud-Simon is its recent acquisition by Faiveley, yet another sign that points to a significant increase of interest in Chablis. At a time in which supply is so constrained in Côte the Beaune whites, this acquisition, if done on reasonable terms, is likely to be a great investment in the future. Billaud-Simon's 2013s and 2012s are terrific. Yields are down massively in 2013, 40-50% across the board. The malos finished quickly, so Bernard Billaud decided to show all of his 2013s that were done exclusively in either steel or oak, as the wines done in both had not been blended yet. The 2012s from bottle capture the potential I sensed last year. I also had a chance to taste two 2002s, which I include here.

As has frequently been the case in recent years, this estate harvested very late in 2013, beginning on October 7 and picking in four days flat, eliminating serious quantities of both rotten and underripe fruit."The 40 millimeters of rain we had on October 5 changed everything," noted young winemaker Julien Martin."We had galloping rot and only made 50% to 60% of a normal year," he told me.But the wines, he added, did not require chaptalization and show good sugar/acid balance.The '13s finished with around one gram per liter of residual sugar, which is quite dry for this estate.In contrast to my experience with the 2012s a year ago, the 2013s had finished their malos in February and Bernard Billaud was willing to show the premier crus. Other wines tasted:2013 Petit Chablis (84-86).