shipping included on 6 bottles, mix and match with the Brunello

We don’t often see Billaud-Simon’s must-coveted Chablis at PRIMA.  Their wines tend to be very allocated, quite expensive and most-often sucked up by the world’s top restaurants who want to see the iconic ‘Billaud-Simon’ on their list and, of course, collectors who view their Premier and Grand Cru wines in the same way as, say, Raveneau.  One thing I can definitely say, we never see it at this kind of discount!  But B-S’s importer is interested in making some year-end numbers and, lo and behold, four cases of none other than Billaud-Simon’s Chablis Tete d’Or 2020 showed up on our doorstep this morning at a very, very good price.  While this is, indeed, a village-level Chablis, it is anything but an ordinary one. This is the domaine’s Tete de Cuvee culled from oldest vines in their village appellation holdings, all sites adjacent to their Premier and Grand Cru parcels.  It gets a little wood from neutral barrels, like the domaine’s Premier Crus, and undergoes a similar treatment in the cellar making it a sort of Reserve-level Chablis of a quality one rarely sees in the appellation. A lovely color, the wine’s stunningly pure, fresh lemon and floral aromatics belies a wine that’s really quite rich and silky on the palate with shimmering yellow and white fruits, lots of Chablis spice and, of course, that only-on-Kimmeridgian chalkiness and citrus spritz at the end.  This is, top to bottom, a complete, intensely flavorful Chablis that promises plenty of additional life.  48 bottles only.

James Suckling: I love the lemon-blossom character of this very bright Chablis, which has a lovely balance of oyster-shell character, creaminess from sur-lie maturation and racy acidity. Long, chalky finish with enough energy to give this plenty of aging potential. 92 points

Decanter: Longer aged than the classic Chablis cuvée, with 25% matured in wood of different sizes. Plenty of weight and intensity from a selection of parcels just outside Montée de Tonnerre. Spicy, with some intriguing white pepper notes, Olivier Bailly says this will improve for at least three years. A wine to accompany food. 92 points