Billaud/Samuel Chablis 1er cru Mont de Milieu 2018

94 points Tim Atkin, MW (Decanter): "Samuel Billaud combines grapes from three parcels in the low, middle and high parts of the Premier Cru to make this mostly old vine cuvée, which sees 20% wood ageing. Rich, dense and showing the power of the terroir in a sunny vintage like 2018, it has enough minerality, iodine-like perfume and salinity for balance. Effortlessly complex. Drinking Window: 2021-2028. (Jul 2019)"

92-94 points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "The 2018 Chablis Mont de Milieu 1er Cru is one of the stand outs in this range. Ample and creamy, the 2018 is so wonderfully inviting, even in the early going. All the elements just come together effortlessly. Orchard fruit, citrus confit, spice, wild flowers and a touch of new oak all grace this super-expressive Chablis. The 2018 was done 80% in tank and 20% in a 450-liter oak barrel. Drink: 2022-2032. (Jan 2020)"

91-94 points Jasper Morris, MW: "Clear pale lemon. There is some volume of fruit here, fully ripe and the first to be picked. The front half of the palate is generous with yellow fruit, then it is clear and pure behind, stony and chiselled. Needs more time to come together. Very intense though. Impressive and certainly doesn’t lack concentration. (May 2019)"

93 points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "Samuel Billaud’s Mont de Milieu is excellent in 2018, offering up good, ripe and fresh fruit tones, lovely soil signature and a fine girdle of acidity to carry it nicely for at least a couple of decades. Readers may recall that all of Monsieur Billaud’s premier crus see fifteen percent new oak, but with the wines raised in four hundred and fifty and six hundred liter demi-muids. The 2018 Mont de Milieu is already beautiful expressive on the nose, delivering scents of lemon, apple, a lovely base of chalky and oyster shell minerality, white flowers, citrus peel, paraffin and just a whisper of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and racy, with a superb core of fruit, excellent mineral drive and cut, fine focus and a long, complex and snappy finish. This is a superb 2018 premier cru! 2020-2045+. (Jul/Aug 2020)"

92 points William Kelley (Wine Advocate): "The 2018 Chablis 1er Cru Mont de Milieu is also performing very well, unwinding in the glass with scents of citrus oil, spring blossom, crisp green orchard fruit and grapefruit. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and incisive, it's nicely concentrated, with a tightly wound core, racy acids and a long, beautifully defined finish. This has turned out beautifully. Drink: 2022-2038. (Jul 2020)"

92 points Allen Meadows (Burghound): "(from a .58 ha holding). As is usually the case with this wine, there is a trace of exoticism sitting atop the subtly oaked aromas of petrol, white and yellow orchard fruit, mineral reduction and soft iodine nuances. There is fine volume and energy to the middle weight flavors that possess reasonably good mid-palate density thanks to the sappy dry extract that coats the palate on the intensely saline, dry and focused finale. This is sufficiently forward that it could be enjoyed on the younger side but this is a wine that should have no trouble rewarding up to a decade of keeping. 2025+. (Oct 2020)"

Bill Nanson (Burgundy Report): "3 heights of vines, all harvested by hand and vinified together as they are small parcels. 20% 450l barrel elevage – all assembled in tank on lees. Youngest vines here are well over 60 years-old. A more profound nose though a little narrower in width and more attenuated above – to start. Ooh, now this is classically mineral and saline – beautiful in the mouth. Almost a small suggestion of austerity. An excellent wine for 2018. (Jan 2020)"