Chablis 1er Cru Montee de Tonnerre Samuel Billaud 2022

Chablis 1er Cru Montee de Tonnerre, Samuel Billaud, Burgundy, France, 2022

Grape: 100% Chardonnay, fruit sourced from two parcels, hand picked, 20% fermented and aged in oak barrels

This Premier Cru vineyard is located on the right bank of the River Serein. An exceptional quality vintage with plenty of sunshine to fully ripen the grapes. Aromas of crushed rocks, damp earth and the sea. Excellent steely acidity with a concentrated, weighty palate, finishing long.

Tank sample. 20% of the finished wine is fermented and aged in oak, then blended after one year and kept in tank on fine lees for another six months but because the barrels were still going through malo at the time of this tasting, this is just the tank part.

"A little less stony on first impression compared with the Mont de Milieu, the cedary citrus fruit more intense. So creamy it seems almost gentle even though the freshness is there at the core. Salty finish." Drink 2025 - 2035

17+/20 points, Julia Harding, JancisRobinson.com, September 2023

Also awarded (92-96)/100 points by Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy, June 2023

Samuel Billaud is one of Chablis’ finest winemakers. For over twenty years he has been responsible for some of the best wines produced in Chablis. He established his own winery in 2009 and, in 2014, his estate was greatly extended when he recovered his share of the Domaine Billaud-Simon vines after the family estate was sold to Faiveley. He has now built a new winery in the centre of Chablis where he ferments the wines in a mixture of stainless steel vats and 450 litre demi-muids (for premier & grand cru wines)

Perfect with steamed sea bass or fruits-de-mers.