This is an honest & rare Preuses in a vintage where this special Grand Cru parcel was, like so many others on the Grand Cru hill, decimated. Hence, it is understandably delicate yet already impressively integrated. Spring blooms, Comice pears and linden flower provide a gentle aromatic profile. The delicacy betrays its longevity, so don’t approach this before five to seven years at the very least.

From some 60-year-old vines, Samuel Billaud’s 2024 Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses is one of the more ethereal, oceanic wines in the range, opening with notes of white flowers, lemon oil and Granny Smith apple mingling with marine nuances and warm stones. On the palate, it’s medium- to full-bodied, bright and incisive, with ample chalky structuring extract, culminating in a long, sapid finish. Samuel Billaud established his own state-of-the-art winery in the center of Chablis in 2009, and he has since emerged as one of the village’s leading producers, crafting wines that unite texture and precision. Working with four hectares of organically farmed estate vineyards, supplemented by purchased grapes—for which Billaud determines the harvest date, and his team usually picks the fruit—harvesting of ripe yet vibrant grapes is the rule here.(KK)