2023 Chablis Blanchots

The 2023 Chablis Blanchot Grand Cru comes from the mid-slope parcel. This aged like the Bougros except the barrels are two instead of three years old. Surprisingly, that makes a tangible difference on the nose, where you can feel the vanillary patina of new oak. The palate is very well balanced with superb depth. That touch of new oak perhaps just masks some of the terroir expression on the finish. Give it three or four years.

Issuing from 40-year-old vines in the middle of the climat with clay-rich soils, and matured for a year in 500-liter barrels (from Tonnellerie Chassin), followed by six months in tank, the 2023 Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot is another success. Opening in the glass to reveal notes of white flowers, grapefruit peel and white peach, it’s medium to full-bodied, bright and precise, structured around racy acidity and chalky extract. It’s tensile and saline, slightly more compact than the richer, more muscular Vaudésir and Les Clos tasted alongside it.

The recently bottled 2023 Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot offers a flamboyant bouquet of gooseberry, lime, grapefruit and lychee, complemented by a hint of vanilla pod. Full-bodied, elegant and layered, it displays a crisp core of fruit framed by racy acids, concluding with a mouthwatering, saline finish. Save for Les Preuses, it is the least powerful among Billaud’s grand cru bottlings.