2015 Chablis Vaudésir Grand Cru

This estate started harvesting in 2016 on September 24 and finished quickly, in six days, owing to botrytis pressures. The team did what winemaker Olivier Bailly described as "a strong sorting" to eliminate botrytis-affected fruit and avoid exotic aromas. Potential alcohol levels began at 12%, he told me, and he chaptalized only half a degree. Bailly finds good concentration, tension and balance in the ‘16s, whereas the 2015s are “more fruity, round and immediate; not classic or crisp.” Bailly planned to do a longer élevage for his 2016s; indeed, the grand crus had barely begun their malolactic fermentations when I visited the winery at the beginning of June.

Two thousand sixteen was not an easy vintage for viticulture, according to Bailly, who told me he had more problems with grapes burned by the sun than with mildew. During a very hot period in mid-August, he added, temperatures reached 42 degrees C. (about 108 degrees F.).

Incidentally, Bailly believes that this estate's 2015s will age well as, owing to the solaire season, “all of the oxidizable phenolic molecules already oxidized on the vines.” He added: "In the very sunny vintages, the wines are lower in acidity but they're also less fragile."

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.