Billaud Simon Chablis 2022 - 37.5cl

A half bottle of good Chablis is one of life's quiet pleasures — enough for two glasses each over dinner, gone before it warms up, no leftover bottle nagging at you the next morning. This 375ml Billaud-Simon is exactly that: a respected Chablis house in a format built for a table of two.

Billaud-Simon works the way Chablis ought to. No oak, no barrels — the fruit is fermented cool in stainless steel and rested about ten months, so nothing gets in the way of the place itself. That place is the Kimmeridgian limestone of northern Burgundy, seabed laid down before the Alps existed, and it speaks clearly in the glass.

The 2022 is a generous vintage, warm enough to give real flesh without losing the cut. Expect ripe pear and green apple on the nose, a squeeze of lemon, a whisper of struck flint. The palate is creamy and rounded at first, then that mineral spine takes over — dry, precise, with a saline lick on a finish that runs longer than the price suggests. This is village Chablis doing its job well.

Open it young and cold as an aperitif, or bring it to the first course. It will hold for a few years yet, though the half bottle rather invites drinking now.

How to Serve

Serve properly cold, 8 to 10 degrees. A standard white wine glass is all it asks — no decanting. Pour straight from the fridge and let the last glass warm a touch to show the fruit.

Where to Drink It

Bentley's, the natural home for Chablis and a dozen oysters. The River Cafe, where its precision suits the cooking. Wiltons, for old-school fish done right.

Food Pairings

Oysters, obviously, but I would just as happily drink it with grilled prawns and aioli. A wedge of young goat's cheese works too if you are keeping it simple.