2009 Chablis Mont de Milieu Vielles Vignes

The 2009 Mont de Milieu Vieilles Vignes was aged 40% in oak and 60% steel. It is more reserved than the straight Mont de Milieu in its aromas and flavors but much richer in body and mouth feel. Powerful, inward and intense, it shows marvelous depth and sheer purity. The muscular style will require at least a few years in bottle to settle down, but the intense, palate staining finish hints at what is to come. The oak is beautifully integrated in this old-vines bottling. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2019. Billaud-Simon is now run by Bernard Billaud, following the exit of his nephew, Samuel Billaud, last year. The 2009 harvest began in late September and ran into early October, quite late by Chablis standards in this vintage. Not surprisingly, the Billaud-Simon 2009s are built on an expression of generous fruit that shows the ripeness and softness of the vintage. The 2009s were bottled beginning in September, 2010. As is quite common, the premier and grand crus saw a longer elevage, here roughly 16-18 months. The last of the grand crus were bottled in May, 2011. I also tasted most of the 2010s from tank and barrel, including several lots of the Petit Chablis and Chablis that had just been racked and were impossible to read. The estate began harvesting the 2010s on October 1st. It was a year in which maturation happened only at the very end of the season. Importer: Langdon Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA; tel. (213) 483-5900

(still in barrel; from vines planed in 1952): Yellow peach and a hint of spice on the nose. Sweeter than the normale in the mouth, but a lightly saline character to the intense yellow fruit flavors gives the wine a sappy quality and helps it carry its oak component gracefully. Finishes firm and long. Forty percent of this wine was vinified in oak.