Holy Cow: Great Scores from John Gilman on 2017 Domaine des Billards Saint Amour
2017 Domaine des Billards Saint Amour
Scores: Love em and hate em. For today, I am happy. Barbet's Billards Saint Amour is a Beaujolais I have carried consistently since the day we opened. It is one of my favorite Beaujolais on the cheaper side and hence a constant staple. For me, it was always an easy going Tuesday night, AMC wine; never a wine that could receive a great score.
Well, for 2017, I must have been not paying attention. Consumed with two children and running a store, it completely slipped my mind that this great staple, would be the best vintage yet in 2017. A wine so great, that John Gilman gave it 95 Points. A rare score for a Beaujolais and an even rarer score for this particular one.
2017 Domaine des Billards Saint Amour
Original Price: $21.99
Newsletter Price: $17.99
3-6 Bottles: $16.99
12 or More Bottles: $15.99
95 Points JG: “The Domaine des Billards 2017 Saint Amour is a touch riper than customary, coming in listed at 13.5 percent, but in this vintage, that seems just perfect. As readers know, this is one of my absolute favorite Cru bottlings in the entire region and, in my opinion, is one of the great long-distance runners of Beaujolais. The 2017 Billards is a classic in the making, offering up a beautifully pure and still quite primary bouquet of red and black cherries, game bird, woodsmoke, a hint of raw cocoa, a complex base of soil tones and a discreet floral top-note redolent of a peonies. On the palate the wine is deep, pure and full-bodied with a fine core of eventually sappy fruit, an excellent structural chassis, moderate, seamless tannins and great focus and grip on the very, very long and nascently complex finish. This is the finest vintage of Billards since the 2011 and 2005, with perhaps greater purity and a more classical profile than those two previous vintages. It is a must buy for the cellar! 2023-2060.
Original Price: $21.99
Newsletter Price: $17.99
3-6 Bottles: $16.99
12 or More Bottles: $15.99
95 Points JG: “The Domaine des Billards 2017 Saint Amour is a touch riper than customary, coming in listed at 13.5 percent, but in this vintage, that seems just perfect. As readers know, this is one of my absolute favorite Cru bottlings in the entire region and, in my opinion, is one of the great long-distance runners of Beaujolais. The 2017 Billards is a classic in the making, offering up a beautifully pure and still quite primary bouquet of red and black cherries, game bird, woodsmoke, a hint of raw cocoa, a complex base of soil tones and a discreet floral top-note redolent of a peonies. On the palate the wine is deep, pure and full-bodied with a fine core of eventually sappy fruit, an excellent structural chassis, moderate, seamless tannins and great focus and grip on the very, very long and nascently complex finish. This is the finest vintage of Billards since the 2011 and 2005, with perhaps greater purity and a more classical profile than those two previous vintages. It is a must buy for the cellar! 2023-2060.