Tasting note

This is Jérôme Billard’s flagship cuvée, produced from a selection of plots very close to his house, picked by hand and vinified in a limestone vat which dates back many centuries. It displays a beautifully concentrated appearance in the glass, with a slightly saturated claret-red and vibrant rim which suggests more substance than either Les Chiens-Chiens or Les Blancs Manteaux. The nose is striking, filled with the scents of crushed limestone and gravel, with black tea and black olive too, scented with haunting notes of red rose petal and tar which call to mind memories of Barolo as much as they do Chinon. There follows a delicious palate, cool, tense and sinewy, with touches of limestone, peppery, with a fresh character. Still plenty of ripe tannic substance here, and with the wine’s supple texture it all works very well, through to the confident structure of the finish. Great wine, so delicious it will be difficult to keep my hands off my other bottles. Drink or hold.

Score: 97

Chris Kissack, The Wine Doctor, August 2019