- Elite Level Complexity, Truly Stunning
- Nose: Wafting. Very Deep
- Candied Citrus, Ripe Pear, Black Fruits, Hazelnuts, Fresh Grilled Bread
- Gingerbread and Wet Earth
- Terrific Aromatic Purity
- Palate: Elegant Mousse, Refined and Super Lively
- Extraordinary Balance
- Terrific Salinity
- Drinks Like High End Bubbles, Priced like Mid Tier
- Case Pricing for a Reason
- $53.99 12 Bottle Case
NV Caillez-Lemaire Reflets Brut
- 50% Pinot Meunièr, 35% Pinot Noir and 15% Chardonnay
- A Blend of the Geeky and the Delicious
- Nose: Terrific, Huge Complexity
- Yeasty, Toasty, Green Tea, Spice
- Very, Very, Very Aromatic
- Palate: Delicious, Great Freshness and Concentration
- Fruit, Balancing Acidity and Minerality
- Priced like Closeout Bubbly
- Drinks like Very Good mid Tier Champagne ($60ish)
Our Big Four Fass Champagnes
I believe in the category of Fass Selections super premium Champagnes we have all the angles covered. We have four, that come and go as availability on these wines can be limited.
1) The Laser: The big vintage Brice (2008/2010 we have offered), which is always lean and minerally. A linear wine.
2) The Eternal: Bollinger RD styled Jean-Baptiste from Perseval-Farge that is old and young at the same time.
3) The Geek: The Perseval-Farge "La Pucelle" covers the 100% geek side of things with it being a Clos and 100% Pinot Noir and Brut Nature.
4) The Deep and Decadent: And the fourth Champagne on the Mt. Rushmore of super premium Champagnes at Fass Selections is today's wine (Caillez-Lemaire's Cuvee Jadis 2009), which is in the deep, bold, rich, opulent, complex and profound style (think Vilmart/Laval) .
It is the new vintage of Cuvee Jadis, the 2009 Caillez-Lemaire's Cuvee Jadis which is the exceptional 2009 If you have the 2006, open one tonight, as the wine is in a great place now and similar to the 2009. The 2009, is much better. Leaner, more precise, but with the opulence and decadence that makes this such an outrageous wine. It has deep flavor impact that is hard to find at $55.99 (on 3), much less $80-$90 which is should be. Today I am offering a super special case price of $53.99 a case.
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 . There is candied citrus, ripe pear, black fruits, hazelnuts, and fresh grilled bread. It is so pure aromatically in that the aromas are vivid and crystalline. As it develops with air, it begins to exhibit nougat and burnt notes like the top of a creme brulee, cooked fruit and layers of spice. Praline and honey complicate things even more. Oh and gingerbread and wet earth. It is truly all there. They held it back and released it at the perfect time as the nose is just to die for. Aromatic champagne is the best. It gains with are and 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.
The Palate. But wait, it tastes just as good. Truly a wine where the palate delivers just as much as the nose. The mousse is elegant, refined and super lively. The acidity is terrific and cuts the terrific opulence and richness. The texture is almost silken and the balance between all the components, particularly the sugar/acid balance (5.4 g per liter dosage) is extraordinary. I love the juxtaposition between freshness and vinoussness in this wine. A long, meandering finish that dissipates beautifully. Dried fruits echo on the finish. 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
First of all I have always wanted to sell an inexpensive Pinot Meunièr dominated blend but was not able to find one. Today the NV Caillez-Lemaire Reflets Brut can be had for the stupid price of $33.99 a bottle and $31.99 on a 12 bottle case. Think $50+ through 3 tiers. $32.99 for a bottle of this is stupid. Yes, stupid. The wine is 50% Pinot Meunièr, 35% Pinot Noir and 15% Chardonnay mostly from from he Valle de Marne.
Terrific and very complex nose. Yeasty, toasty, some green tea and some spice. A hint of almond. After a bit, some Puffeney on the nose. Very, very, very aromatic with nuances that change every 15 minutes. Great stuff.
Palate is delicious with great freshness and concentration. Loads of red fruit flavors and such nice precision and delineation. The overall palate impact is like a great Grosses Gewachs in that it has fruit, balancing acidity and minerality but there is not a hair out of place. Plus, crazy secondary and tertiary flavors. Quite sophisticated. The finish is extraordinarily mineral and long. Drinks like $50+.
It is mostly argo-calcaire soil and is fermented 92% INOX and 8% in wood which is a departure from the Jadis I offered which was 100% in wood. It is aged 2 years in bottle and dosed with 7.25 grams of cane sugar. Then it is aged for 2 more years in barrel. It's amazing what goes into Champagne and even more amazing that it can be here for $33.99 a bottle. It is their most well known cuvee and also a historic cuvee in that Virginie's grandparents only had Meunier so that is all they could make. It is a somewhat honor bottling to remember their roots. Reflets is the name of the cuvee as it is the reflection of their terroir which is influenced by the River Marne.
The wine is stunning and is surely my favorite geeky under $35 Champagne we have sold. Caillez-Lemaire has 7 hectares of vines and 4 of them are in Damery whilst the remaining 3 are in Cumieres. Pinot Meunier is 50% of the estates plantings with the rest being Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The terroir is perfectly suited for the low yielding Meunier and when Meunier is great in this area there is nothing like it.
2009 Caillez-Lemaire Cuvee Jadis - $57.99
($223.96 4-pack, $647.88 12 bottle Case {$53.99})
NV Caillez-Lemaire Reflets Brut - $35.99
($135.96 4-pack, $383.88 12 Bottle Case)
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