Chablis has seen a real renaissance the last few years, with critics such as Neal Martin stating, Chablis “articulates terroir with greater transparency than any other wine region”. In the same article Neal Martin identifies Samuel Billaud as one of the best in the business, including him amongst a handle of producers that are making Chablis on almost the same level as Raveneau and Dauvissat.
Although Samuel’s domaine is fairly new, the first vintage being 2009, Samuel is one of the most experienced producers in Chablis having made wine in the region since the 1985 vintage. He produced over 20 vintages working for his family’s historic domaine - Domaine Billaud Simon, initially under the tutorage of his grandfather until his death in 1990. From 1991 he went on to produce the wines at the domaine on his own. Following the death of his grandfather, Samuel started to fall out with his uncle whom he shared the domaine’s ownership with and the two eventually separated.
The Billaud family has been making Chablis since 1815 under the name Billaud-Simon, with Samuel embodying the sixth generation. A few years ago, Domaine Billaud Simon was finally sold to the large Burgundian negociant – Faiverley. In the terms of sale Samuel was allowed to pick his favoured plots of vineyards for his own domaine. This enabled him to secure some of the finest vineyards in Chablis – historic sites that have always been under the ownership of the original Chablis families of Billaud Simon, Raveneau, Dauvissat and Droin. Today, Samuel makes delicious terroir* driven wines with minimum intervention during the winemaking process. This results in an array of beautiful Chardonnays that are set to seduce. The crunchy acidity and minerality of the Kimmeridgian soils shine through with deft elegance.
Bill Nanson, Burgundy Report recently stated “Year-in, year-out – Samuel produces some of the most texturally sensuous wines of Chablis. I always look forward to my visit”. We have a great relationship with the supplier of Samuel Billaud and encourage you to explore the wines and challenge the bigger producers such as William Fevre and Christian Moreau.
