2014 Chablis Vaudésir Grand Cru

Domaine Billaud-Simon began harvesting on September 5, quickly bringing in the hailed-on sections of Les Clos, Les Blanchots and Montée de Tonnerre. Estate manager/winemaker Olivier Bailly started in on the estate’s healthy grapes on the 7th, with potential alcohol levels in the 12.8% to 13.8% range, which he described as very high for Chablis. Acidity levels in 2015 are around 3.6 grams per liter, noted Bailly, with pHs around 3.4. He prefers 3.2. Under Faiveley ownership since 2014, Billaud-Simon purchased a sorting table prior to the 2015 harvest, which came in handy for the grapes affected by hail.

Bailly, who bears a passing resemblance to the actor Liev Schreiber (bearded version), normally does no more than two or three batonnages in order to minimize oxidation. He noted that he does not want to fatten the wines—a good thing as the 2015s are already plush enough. Bailly considers 2015 to be a relatively fragile vintage for drinking on the young side. “It’s an easy-to-drink vintage, with the impression of sweetness coming from the alcohol. The wines will be very good for restaurants but purists will prefer 2014, which is a great vintage for Chablis, like 2010.” Even though the 2015s are lower in acidity than the 2014s, Bailly finds that they offer “a sensation of acidity.” I was a bit underwhelmed.

Incidentally, under the direction of Faiveley's head enologist Jérôme Flous, who vinified the 2014s with former winemaker Julien Martin just before Bailly was hired, Billaud-Simon has cut back on the use of oak in the few cuvées that it has not historically made in stainless steel. As of 2014, the Vaudésir is made without any oak and the Blanchots less than previously.

The biggest story in the sleepy town of Chablis in the past year was the purchase of this estate last summer by François Faiveley, who quickly installed Olivier Bailly as régisseur under the direction of Faiveley family advisor Bernard Hervet and technical director Jérôme Flous, who also serves as technical director at Faiveley's base in Nuits-Saint-Georges. The transaction finally resolved a long-running family squabble as a result of which Bernard Billaud's nephew Samuel Billaud, who had previously made the wines at Billaud-Simon, was forced out of the family domain and set up his own négociant operation. Samuel has retained some of his family estate’s original vineyards as part of the payment for his share of the domain.

The first crop of wines made by the new regime at Billaud-Simon looks extremely promising, due in in large part to the fact that Faiveley harvested the fruit earlier--with better nerve and natural acidity--than would have been the case here under Bernard Billaud. Acidity levels are in the very healthy 4.8 grams per liter range. The new team bottled the 2013s but did not vinify them. I've been a long-time fan of this estate previously, but quality will no doubt be more consistent under the Faiveley ownership.