France
Domaine Billard Pere et Fils
We met Jérome Billard when he was showing his wines at the International Wine Fair in London. A veteran member of the Wine Trade suggested that his Hautes Côtes de Beaune was the best wine made with that label. It was!
The Billard Pere et Fils winery is located in the charming village of Rochepot, 12 km south of Beaune. It has been family operated for 5 generations. The ambitious young winemaker, Jerome, has only one motto - no ordinary wines!
Jérôme Billard is the mayor of La Rochepot, a village in the Hautes-Côtes
de Beaune. The Hautes-Côtes vineyards are located to the west of the main Côte d’Or, higher up the escarpment. The higher altitude means it’s generally cooler and the vines are more exposed. Changes in climate over the last twenty years and improvements in the vineyard means that good
wines can be consistently made. Like many properties in the HautesCôtes, Domaine Billard previously farmed other crops. Since taking over the running of the estate in 1999, Jérôme Billard’s focus is purely on vine growing and he has been buying small plots of land in different appellations to total approximately 20 hectares.
2018 is a high-quality vintage and all Jérôme’s wines scored equally very highly in the tasting, making this my favourite vintage I ever tasted for his wines. Obviously, it is early days - all wines were tasted and selected as barrel samples and will remain in barrel for several months prior to bottling.
As I write this, I have just had news from Jérôme that they suffered some frost in Saint-Aubin in the early hours of Sunday April 14, despite their best efforts lighting fires. It’s too early to tell the extent of the damage. Fingers crossed for the next couple of weeks while the vine's buds are particularly vulnerable.
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Grape Variety: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir |
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Jérôme Billard
Jérôme Billard
