Caillez-Lemaire "Pur Meunier"
- 80 Cases Made - A Unicorn Among Unicorns
- Pretty Much a "Friends and Famly Only" Wine
- Reminds Me of Top Prevost Bottlings
The 2008 Jadis Is Insane
- There Is No Champagne Like This for $54.99
- As Dense and Complex As Joyce's Ulysses
- Grand Cru Levels of Aromatics, Density and Balance

First, I have one of the most special wines Caillez-Lemaire makes. This is on the same level qualitatively as the Jadis, 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 took a lower margin to keep things fair. This is the first vintage available commercially. They only make 1,004 bottles and I have a very limited amount of the NV (2013) Caillez-Lemaire "Pur Meunier" for $57.99 a bottle on a 3-pack.Wine is a freak show no other way to describe it. They poured it for me first as they knew I'd swoon over it and it would take me forever to get to the next wine. What a nose. Like the most vivid and exotic spice bazaar you've ever smelled. The palate is pure magic and reminds me of some top wines from Prevost I've had. It is so elegant, fine and pure. Pinot Meunièr can be wild and they have tamed it and this rendition is so refined, which it can be capable of, but only in the finest hands. It's complex, sappy and deep but threaded so fine. The flavors are spice infused fruits and such fine mousse. This is some next level wine and is extremely limited. I've got 60 bottles and might be able to get a few more. We will see. They only sell it to one wine store in Reims, a tiny bit to their Italian importer and they will keep the rest. This is truly a UNICORN. It is from two small plots near Damery and is aged in 100% new oak but there is no malo.
Second, I am offering one of the best Champagnes I will ever sell. As many of you know I hold the 2008 vintage in reverence as it is incomprehensible to me how one can fit in that much fruit, acid, more acid, even more acid, some fruit, a side of acid, all on a bed of minerals. These are epic, epic wines that will age decades. The release has been a slow creep and more and more are coming. Today I present the 2008 Caillez-Lemaire Cuvée Jadis for $57.99 a bottle on a 3-pack and $54.99 on 6 bottles or more. I'm offering a special six bottle price because I think this wine merits it. 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. I love all vintages of this wine but this stands tall above the 06 and 07. The nose is super complex like a spice bazaar. So much depth. Lots of minerals, some brioche that is so fine. Oh man is it fine. Then a whiff of candied citrus, lime zest, hazelnuts, iodine, white pepper and on and on and on. 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. Champagne is so good when you can get something like this for $55 a bottle. I haven't even gotten to the taste yet. The nose should be bottled and sold at some boutique. It's just crazy. The first sip lets you know this is '08 and hear me roar. The best '08s explode in your mouth like nothing else. If you have 06 or 07 and 08 Jadis in front of you, like I did, if you can figure out by the nose, then the first sip of the '08 is the giveaway. 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. This wines finish doesn't finish, it just lingers. Only way to explain it. It cannot be missed. I'll be grabbing a case of this one.
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. The dosage is 5.4 grams per liter.
NV (2013) Caillez-Lemaire "Pur Meunier" - $59.99 ($173.97 3-pack)
(VERY LIMITED)
2008 Caillez-Lemaire Cuvee Jadis - $59.99
($173.97 3-pack, $659.88 12-Pack) (LIMITED)
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