Samuel Billaud Mont de Milieu

The 2019 Chablis 1er Cru Mont de Milieu is another taut, structured wine that had only recently been bottled when I tasted it. Unwinding in the glass with notes of orange oil, oyster shell, beeswax, buttery pastry and white flowers, it's medium to full-bodied, layered and precise, with a tightly wound core and a long, saline finish.

Intense and quite open with fresh herbs and grapefruit zest. Stony and subtle too. So fresh it almost feels as if there is a slight spritz here. Not as intense on the palate as the Fourneaux, perhaps, but benchmark Chablis premier cru. Peppery and dry on the finish. It is long but the finish is less intense than in the Fourneaux, a lingering subtlety.