The 2018 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos has turned out well, wafting from the glass with aromas of golden orchard fruit, citrus oil, dried white flowers and drawn butter. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and enveloping, it's bright and lively, with a fleshy core of fruit, succulent acids and a delicate, mineral finish.

Aromas of sweet yellow citrus fruit, beeswax, white flowers and fresh pastry preface the 2017 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos, a full-bodied, satiny-textured and multidimensional wine that's layered, concentrated and powerful, with a lively line of acidity and a precise, saline finish. It will demand some patience.

The 2016 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos is the most reserved wine in the range, unfurling slowly with aromas of citrus zest, spring flowers and iodine that I'd expect to show more generosity with a few years' bottle age, while retaining its classic outlines. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and foursquare, with a concentrated, tight-knit profile and a tense, stony finish.

The 2012 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos has a very well-defined and precise bouquet with yellow flowers, hints of tangerine and almond coming through with aeration. The palate is crisp and focused with a fine thread of acidity and a precise, tightly wound finish which, like the domaine’s fellow 2012 Grand Crus, needs another two or three years in bottle. It is confusing having both a Samuel Billaud and a Billaud-Simon producing wines in Chablis, but unfortunately that is the case while the intra-family dispute goes on. One hopes it is resolved sooner rather than later. Charles Louis Noel Billaud established the estate in 1815, thereby making it one of the forefathers of the region. Bernard Billaud returned to the domaine in 1991, whereupon he seized the opportunity to ratchet up the quality by installing a pneumatic press and stainless steel tanks. I have tasted the wines regularly here in the UK and they have always been impressive. For sure, the 2012s were perhaps a little more inconsistent due to the challenges of the growing season. But the grand crus certainly deliver where it matters – in the glass – while I appreciate the premier crus remaining true to their respective terroirs. Post-script: As this report went to print, news filtered through with regard to the sale of Domaine Billaud-Simon to Maison Faiveley, giving them a strong foothold in the region. How this will impact Samuel Billaud remains to be seen, though it clearly thwarts any hopes of him returning to farming the vines that he once tended (wouldn’t it be a twist if Faiveley subsequently appointed him winemaker!). Exact details are yet to emerge, but hopefully all parties can move forward. Importer: Langdon Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA; tel. (213) 483-5900

Dusty chalk and zesty lime mark the not atypical nose of Billaud-Simon’s 2011 Chablis Les Clos, with lily-of-the-valley and hints of apricot kernel adding allure and piquancy. Dense and relatively firm in feel for its vintage, this finishes with a mouthwatering influx of salinity and formidable penetration and concentration. I suspect it will perform impressively through at least 2013. When I last visited Bernard Billaud on a June day for my issue 191 report focusing on vintage 2008, he agreed for the first time to show me his young grand crus in advance of bottling and alongside the premier crus that I was used to tasting at that season of the year. Unfortunately, he made emphatically clear on this most recent occasion that such would not be the case; indeed, I was not offered any of the 2012s to taste, but instead the full 2011 collection, and a report on Billaud-Simon’s 2012 will have to wait for next year, before which, in any case, they will not have been put on the market. (In keeping with existing conventions at The Wine Advocate – and seeing that there are modes of vinification in common and only one overlap in cru designations – I have not indicated as part of each wine’s description whether or not it relies entirely on domaine as opposed to contract fruit.) Imported by Langdon Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA; tel. (213) 483-5900