Since Faively's purchase of Domaine Billaud-Simon in 2014, régisseur Olivier Bailly has been refining a subtly brighter, more tensile style, with somewhat earlier harvests and a decreased percentage of new oak for certain cuvées. Domaine Billaud-Simon was always a good producer, but today the wines are more consistent and more aesthetically coherent WILLIAM KELLEY, Wine Advocate

Another cracking set of Chablis from Billaud Simon in 2021. While there was so little wine made in 2021, there are some absolutely brilliant wines on offer from the right producers, and Olivier Bailly looks to have absolutely nailed the brief here. 

I love the style here, plenty of classic Chablisienne character with oyster shell and iodine knitted into the fabric of the wines, but these are wines of dimension too, with palpable intensity and texture that builds as you step up from Petit to the Tete d'Or. This is the fulcrum I look at when it comes to great Chablis; the ability to bring the classic esturaine imprint along for the ride while you build richness of texture and flavour, all the while holding onto the nervosity and tension that draws the wine together. Olivier Bailly is masterful with this paradigm in mind, from pinpoint picking times to judicious elevage and gentle application of oak, he pulls all the threads together to create a wonderful tapestry of flavour, freshness, intensity, and precision. 

The cooler classic edge to the 2021 vintage has clearly played into the house style here as well. The fruit is tucked back a little further than in more recent warm, modern vintage and the wines have a wonderful energy and punch to them. These wines are delicious and approachable now, but there is some underlying foundations to the wines that will see them develop further with a little cellar dwelling, particularly the Chablis and Tete d'Or. 

As you can read from Bill Nanson's glowing reviews of these wines below this is an excellent set of Chablis that really sets Billaud Simon out from the crowd and into the winners' circle. There has been a noticable upward swing in quality here since Faiveley took over in 2014. We saw what Erwan Faiveley has achieved with his family estate in that time and you can see a similar approach here where time and money is spent on all the details, from vineyard management to bottling and more while the changes to the winemaking is slow and measured delivering year on year improvements that result in wines like these nearly a decade down the line. It's the long game and now it's paying off. 

These are a no brainer for Chablis fans, particular those who love wines with energy, shape and plenty of kimmeridgian imprint. Orders can be placed by clicking the Buy Now buttons below or replying directly to this email

What a seriously great range of 2021s – covetable wines! BILL NANSON, Burgundy Report