- Nose: Jumps form the Glass
- Screaming Minerals and Wet Earth
- Spice, Green Apple
- Super Yeasty
- Saline and Iodine as it Airs
- Palate: Amazing Sap and Power
- You Normally Pay $100+ for This Level of Finesse, Elegance and Purity
- Truly Top Flight
2015 Caillez-Lemaire "Pur Meunier"
- A Brilliant Freak Show of a Champagne
- Only 100 Cases Made
- Some Italian Importer, 1 Retailer and I Are the Only Outlets
- Legendary 2015 Vintage
- Utterly Singular - The Pure Magic of 100% Pinot Meunier
- Nose. Like the Most Vivid and Exotic Spice Bazaar
- The Aromatics Are Just Crazy
- Absolute Geek Heaven on the Nose
- Yeastiness Just Pops
- Green Apple Skin, Lemon Zest
- Utterly Crazy and Elite Complexity
- Palate: Explosive White and Yellow Fruits
- Complex, Sappy and Deep
- Nice Balancing Richness
- Crunchy, Crunchy Minerals
- Zero Dosage
- Blows Away a Ton of $80-$125 Champagnes
- Very Limited Distribution, Unicorn Type Wine
- Case Pricing
Sometimes you need to taste a lot of crappy Champagne to realize that what you have is a gem. A beauty. An estate that is so good one you must take advantage of it. I've been looking for new Champagne estates for years now and I've tasted a ton. I always ask myself are they as good as or better than Caillez-Lemaire? The answer, as many of you can predict is no. Or else you would have seen it. It's remarkable how brilliant the wines of Caillez-Lemaire are. The quality is bonkers. They should be 2-3-4 x the prices they are.
These wines will get reviewed and the prices will explode one day. Trust me. So please, take advantage of the genius of today's two wines at prices that are just silly.
The 2015 Vintage is legendary with small yields and just stunning wines. They are beautifully balanced with rich and intense fruit and will improve for decades.
The Wines
separated and made into a single cuvee. And well, I was right. This is a smoke show and a debut like no other. The 13 Pur Meunier was an incredible debut and this is just as good if not better. I'm grouping it with the "Pur Meunier" below, as what is better than comparing two pure varietal Brut Nature champagnes from the same vintage. This is a rare treat and why I am offering case pricing and mix and match case pricing.
The nose jumps out of the glass with all types of screaming minerals and wet earth. Spice. Green apple. Endless complexity. Sickness. It's wafting and so so aromatic. Super yeasty. A nose that is exploding with character. Herbs as well. So so deep. Nose gets tons of saline and iodine as it airs. Just an insane nose. Only open 5-8 minutes and it's changed 5-6 times. Sickness. Virginie was "hoping" I would like it when she wrote she was sending me a sample. I wish I could be even as half as humble as she is!
Wow. That palate has flavor! Flava in my ear as the acid gets all the way up to my ear. Amazing sap and power. So sappy. Concentrated and so pure. Painfully intense. Wow, huge spice on the finish. So fresh and precise and wow is this long. What palate presence, and the palate develops a mineral sweetness that is stunning. Wow. This is sick. The palate presence of great BDB cannot be denied. A masterpiece. This has 10-12 years of age ahead of it. There is top flight finesse and elegance and purity you would need to pay $100+ for in the 3-tier system. This is an amazing wine and shows me that Caillez-Lemaire is a master of the Brut Nature style. I made no Day 2 notes as this was so good on Day 1 it was all drunk.
Today I also have one of the most special wines Caillez-Lemaire makes. I'm super amped as well as this is the new vintage, 2015, and it is finally vintage dated like their Cuvee Jadis. As many of you know 2015 is an absolutely genius year for Champagne and today's version is the most incredible wine I've ever had from Caillez-Lemaire. It even surpasses the epic 2008. This is on the same level qualitatively as the Jadis, probably a bit higher actually, but it's an entirely different animal as it is made from 100% Pinot Meunier. They price it higher at the estate than the Jadis, but I take a lower margin to keep things fair. This is the third vintage available commercially.
They only make 1,220 bottles and I have a very limited amount of the 2015 Caillez-Lemaire "Pur Meunier" for $59.99 a bottle on a 4-Pack and special $57.99 case price on 12 bottles or more. The wine is a freak show and there is no other way to describe it. They poured it for me first on my last visit in 2019 as they knew I'd swoon over it and it would take me forever to get to the next wine. They know me too well. One of my favorite Champagnes in the world.
What a nose. Like the most vivid and exotic spice bazaar you've ever smelled. But also floral, citrus and the best French bread crust you can imagine. Like the spiciest spice bazaar as well with incredible green apple skins. Yellow Apple. Brioche. It's so, so aromatic. It's painful in its aromatic intensity. Superb green apple skins. Citrus pith. Grapefruit zest. The nose gets more and more complex and when it is at it's peak complexity you just are in awe as every detail is so clear. The clarity of the aromas is just incredible. I can't even imagine how this will be in 5 years.
The palate is pure magic and reminds me of some top wines from Jerome Prevost who is considered the top Pinot Meunier guy in Champagne. It is so elegant, fine and pure while also remaining full bodied with ample structure. The juiciness is unreal. This has oak aging and just does wonders. There are explosive white and yellow fruits with mind numbing purity. Incredible concentration and a dramatic quality. Rich as well with the crunchiest minerals you can imagine. Then the acidity just announces itself and gives this wine what seems like endless persistence. Pinot Meunièr can be wild (goes great with steak) and they have tamed it and this rendition is so refined, which it can be, but only in the finest hands. It's complex, sappy and deep but threaded so fine. The finish is epic. Crunchy red and green apple flesh. My god it is so detailed.
There is a kaleidoscope of flavors. So, so saline and so lively. The energy on the wine could power a Lamborghini. The flavors are spice-infused white and yellow fruits and such fine mousse. So finely beaded. Insane oak integration. It adds so much texture when oak aging is done correctly. This is some next level wine and is extremely limited. I've got 100 bottles and might be able to get a few more. We will see how you all respond. They only sell it to one wine store in Reims and a tiny bit to their Italian importer and they will keep the rest. This is truly a UNICORN.
This wine is from two small plots near Damery and is aged in 100% new oak but there is no malo. There is ZERO DOSAGE. Brut Nature. The list of $80-$125 Champagnes this destroys in the market is as long as War and Peace. Do not miss this. Truly the most incredible Champagne we sell for under $60, under $70 and even under $80.
2015 Caillez-Lemaire "Chardonnay de la Valle" Blancs de Blancs Brut Nature - $61.99 ($239.96 4-pack, $695.88 12 bottle case)
2015 Caillez-Lemaire "Pur Meunier" Brut Nature - $61.99 ($239.96 4-pack, $695.88 12 bottle case)
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