2010 Caillez-Lemaire Cuvee Jadis Extra-Brut
- Elegant, Fresh and Very Sapid
- Nose: Just Packed
- Off the Bat, an Elite Bottle of Grower Champagne
- Very Aromatic and Open
- Baked Fruits, Candied Quince
- The Purest Honey You’ve Ever Smelled
- Michelin Three Star Butter
- So Complex
- A Vividness and Crystalline Quality to the Aromas
- Palate: the Attack is Super Fresh
- A Lovely Consistency
- Insane Structured Acidity
- Baked Fruit, Grilled Almonds and Honey
- Explosive and Dense Yet Also So Light and Elegant
NV Caillez-Lemaire Coteaux Champenois Cumieres Rouge (2002/2004/2016)
- Sadly, Limited
- Nose: Such a Fine Delicacy
- Memories of Wild Strawberries
- Sweet Red Berries, Orange Rind
- Cloves, Rose Petals and Raw Cocoa.
- Ripe Red Cherries and Red Currants
- Palate: Finesse and Elegance in Spades
- Insane Freshness
NV Caillez-Lamaire Eclats Brut Nature
- Nose: Mosel Meets Damery
- Stony Skeletal Quality
- Red Fruits, Orchard Fruits
- Mild Citrus Fruits
- Airy Minerals
- Palate: Precise as a Laser
- Utterly Delicious
- Complex Like You Cannot Believe
- Precise Richness
- As Good an Under $40 Champagne That Exists
.jpeg)
We are also offering the brilliant Eclats for those who need to stock up as well as the still red which is a favorite of mine.
The Wines
The 2010 Caillez-Lemaire Cuvee Jadis Extra Brut can be had for $57.99 a bottle on a 4-pack and $55.99 a bottle on a case. This really showcases the brilliance of the 2010 vintage. It’s elegant, fresh and very sapid which is what the best Champagnes from the 2010 vintage show. They also have a certain smoothness that makes them very accessible from the get go. This is a full bodied Champagne like the 2006 and is very indulgent but has terrific acidity as well for the acid freaks. It’s like 2006 with higher acidity.
I usually don’t remark on color but the color of the 10 Jadis is truly remarkable. Like a golden wheat. Blonde and very nuanced. The beads of the effervescence catch the light in such a unique way that a great photographer would have ample opportunity to create a memorable image. This color shows that this will is mature or entering maturity at almost 12 years old.
The nose, right off the bat let's you know this is an elite bottle of grower Champagne. It is amazing "young" and I can attest to that as I drank almost a whole bottle by myself. It changed almost 40 times in 30 minutes. It's that level of complexity which really isn't complexity as something complex needs to be stable and not changing over and over and over again. This is just packed. It unravels like the tail of a peacock. The wine is one of those wines that you can smell colors and taste smells. It's just on another level. The nose is very aromatic. Wafting. Very deep with so many different nuances developing as it interacts with air .
The nose is very aromatic and open. Possibly the most open of the young Jadis’ I’ve ever had. While Jadis is always open young as that is one of the calling cards of the cuvee this one is striking for how open it is. Baked fruits, candied quince and the purest honey you’ve ever smelled. Toasted almond and melted elite butter. Michelin three star butter. This gives away the barrel aging but is so inviting and subtle at the same time. After air we get bergamot, apricot and caramel. It is so complex only after 15+ minutes. It’s got fruit, maturity, wood and yeast. That’s the hallmarks of aromatic complexity. So much aroma. Wafting and it keeps revealing itself yet it also has so much more to reveal even as you think it can't reveal anymore. The wine is an enigma. But in a good way. It unravels like a tightly wound up poster you unravel for the first time. There is a vividness and crystalline quality to the aromas that comes only in top vintages.
The palate. Then you sip it and the attack is super fresh and and expands on the tactile delicacy of the vintage. It has a lovely consistency that is very fluid. It’s got insane structured acidity from the initial attack to the finish. The mousse is so well integrated and creates a gorgeous silken texture. It also has luscious, ripe and soft tannins. It leaves your mouth filled with baked fruit, grilled almonds and honey. The finish is so long and lingers for 45 seconds. It’s super fresh, super pure and super chalky. Also the salinity on the finish is no joke! On the tail end of the finish is roasted pineapple and damp chalk. Total masterpiece. It's explosive and dense yet also so light and elegant like only Champagne can be. It is just beautiful. Breathtaking. A work of art. It's rich, yet so complex, opulent, yet sizzling with acids that get at every nook and cranny, mineral like nothing else, but also there is clearly defined fruit. It is all there. This wine is just a knockout. It does not end. It finishes with saline and is so salty. What an amazing delicate and fine mousse as well. This wines finish doesn't finish, it just lingers. That salinity! Only way to explain it. It cannot be missed. I'll be grabbing a case of this one. It can be aged for 2-4 more years and then really go into overdrive.
It is 60% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir and 10% Pinot Meunièr. 100% fermentation in barrel gives it the richness. It is aged on its fine lees, which also contributes to the opulence. The grapes come from Cumieres and Hautvillers with no malolactic fermentation no filtration (on the lees) and alcoholic fermentation is in bottles with cork closures and not sealed with crown caps. This is a trend in Champagne as they believe it is qualitatively better.
Up next I’ve got a very special wine that is already sold out at the estate and is the 2nd ever Coteaux Champenois Rouge we have ever sold at Fass Selections. This is a category that over the next 20 years will have outsized importance in the grand scheme of French Pinot Noir because of accelerating climate change. The NV (02/04/16) Caillez-Lemaire Coteaux Champenois Cumieres Rouge can be had for $35.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. This is limited sadly. This is not a Burgundy clone as many Coteaux Champenois can be but is more like the Coteaux Champenois of the old days. A rare treat. It’s got a nice red robe with terrific brightness.
The nose has such a fine delicacy. Wild strawberries abound. Or is it memories of wild strawberries for all you Bergman fans out there. It has sweet red berries, orange rind, cloves, rose petals and raw cocoa. Also ripe red cherries and red currants. Also smoked meats! They are silky and unctuous aromas that really show a sensation of softness that mimics velvet.
The palate has finesse and elegance in spades with a slight touch of wispy tannins and insane freshness. Structured and harmonious. It is velvety and incisive, with refined tannins, racy acids and a delicately floral and distinctly mineral finish that is super long and sapid.
Next up is the NV Caillez-Lamaire Eclats Brut Nature for as little as $38.99 each on a 4-pack. This is just a eerily beautiful and amazingly delicious wine that grabs your attention.
The nose is like Mosel meets Damery with its stony skeletal quality. Airy minerals abound. Touch of confectionary notes. Even a hint of caramel. Red fruits as well. Orchard fruits. It's so nuanced and deep you would never think this is Brut Zero. There are also some mild citrus fruits as well that are very clearly defined. So clean and such a fresh nose that also is big on the airy minerals.
The palate is precise as a laser. So crunchy, silky and nutty with terrific and intense fruit. There is sap, and I mean serous sap, loads of yeastiness and a quiet intensity. Utterly delicious. Stunning flavor intensity for an entry level wine. The wine is not messing around. It is complex like you cannot believe and BONE dry. But for being this dry it is exceptionally balanced and pure. It is assertively dry but has such complexity and fruit skin/mineral lusciousness that it not only works, it is masterful.
The blend is 50% Chardonnay (vinified in oak barrels) 25% Pinot Noir (a part in oak barrels, a part in inox vats) and 25% Pinot Meunier in inox vats. It is 50% barrel fermented and 50% barrel maturation, so despite its skeletal brut nature quality, it has heft and weight to it. It's complex and so dry that I would only drink it as an aperitif or with fresh oysters. Maybe some caviar. It is insanely delicate, yet penetratingly deep and has so many angles it would make Euclid jealous. But not like something that has sugar. This shows so well after 2-3 hours and really picks up steam on day 2. The richness, that is just a part of the wine, and if richness can be precise this wine does it. This is less a food Champagne, except for those luxury foods that I mentioned earlier, and more of an aperitif. But it draws you in with its terrific precision, depth and complexity. For me this is a unicorn as it's very hard to find Brut Nature this good at this price. Almost impossible.
2010 Caillez-Lemaire Cuvee Jadis - $59.99
($231.96 4-pack, $671.88 12 bottle Case {$55.99})
NV (02/04/16) Caillez-Lemaire Coteaux Champenois Cumieres Rouge - $37.99 ($143.96 4-Pack)
NV Caillez Eclats Brut Nature - $40.99 ($155.96 4-Pack)
No comments:
Post a Comment