6 Questions with Virginie & Laurent from Caillez-Lemaire

6 Questions used to be a regular feature that I used to adore reading in the Sunday NY Times Magazine.  Now I want to bring the format to Fass Selections by featuring our favorite wine producers and their candid responses to questions. I love this format as it extends beyond the traditional wine questions and shows am irreverent human side to all the people I work with and work with us. I hope you enjoy this series and the latest installment is from Laurent and Virginia of the great Champagne House in Damery, Caillez-Lemaire. A Two for one Deal!

1- What was the last great wine you had that was not one of yours?

Virginie: Mycorrhizas, Champagne DE SOUSA
Laurent: Plaimont, AOC SAINT MONT. Pre -phylloxera vines. Huge surprise: a beautiful material

supported by rather fine tannins, on a little known name. Big potential


2- What was the last great meal you had?

Virginie: The best meals are a successful alchemy between what is on the plate and the atmosphere of the meal, the mood of the guests! The last one was with my parents, my daughter and my husband, in a very good restaurant, the Briqueterie in Vinay.
Laurent:: A sole at Chez Max restaurant in Magenta. It reminded me of my grandmother's in Dunkirk.


3- What are you currently streaming on Netflix/Hulu/Amazon that you really enjoy?

Virginie I refuse to follow series! It's too addictive! And I have other things to do ;-)
Laurent: Breaking Bad and Orange is the New Black.


4 - If you were prohibited from making wine, what would be your dream job?
Virginie: School teacher
Laurent: Sommelier

5 - What is your favorite wine region that is not yours or ones you currently work with?

Virginie: Each wine region, by its geography, history, culture and wines, is both specific and universal. As a winemaker I am touched by all wine regions. And the most specific and the most universal is (for me) Burgundy, my favorite.
Laurent: Pessac Leognan where I spent my adolescence and for its beauty and history, the Douro Valley in Portugal.

6  - What do you think is the biggest problem for winemakers today? 

Virginie and Laurent: Climate change is for us the most important problem.  It changes the maturation of the grapes, and therefore the profile of the wines, and it brings violent phenomena of hail, frost (because now there is often early bud break)