Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.7

Spectacular showing and considerably more open than my last bottle, needing only around 30–35 minutes to fully come alive. Extraordinary mousse, incredibly fine and integrated, with deep yeast, intense salinity and gorgeous freshness. The palate is dense, sappy and energetic, with superb acidity, seamless texture and an extraordinarily long saline, yeasty finish. Completely harmonious and one of the finest showings I’ve had from this wine. — 6 days ago

Jay Kline

9.2

This is, quite obviously, Caillez-Lemair’s Coteaux-Champenois Blanc. Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of lunch at La Briqueterie with Virginie Vanpoperinghe. This is a relatively new offering from Caillez-Lemaire and made in very small quantities. The 2023 pours a straw color with medium viscosity. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of yellow apple, pineapple, lemon curd, honeysuckle, and chalky/clay earth. On the palate the wine is dry with high acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium with lovely minerals. This was an excellent pairing with our lunch. Drink now through 2033. — 9 months ago

Matthew Cohen

9.0

Reflets Demi Sec

Delicious. A dessert wine. Fruity. Some exotic fruits. — 2 years ago

Josh Morgenthau

9.1

Because Wednesday — 4 years ago

Pooneet K

9.1

Excellent value nonvintage blend. Everything you want - some yeast, some nice apple-y sour fruit, some great acid and completeness. Bubbles slightly pronounced. Nice. — 5 years ago

Severn G

9.3

Nose has partially oxidized red apple peel, lightly buttered & toasted brioche, moist limestone gravel and day old lemon zest.

Palate has red apple, lemon, dried cherry, lemon pith, (light) dried strawberry with a rich and long finish. Oak aging is not obtuse, but subdued and complimentary. What a great bottle, still young with years ahead!

Dosage 3.6G/L | Bottled 31 March 2014 | Bottle No. 720/1004
100% Pinot Meunier | 100% Damery fruit | 100% Oak-aged (Damery sourced oak)

(I believe this version to be mostly 2013 vintage harvest.) — 6 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.2

Terrific mineral driven and terroir driven rose. Nose has delicate citrus rind, mineral, mid season cherries. So beautiful. Palate is terrific and very long. Orange citrus, so juicy and refined. Amazingly pure wine. Elegant. So long. — 7 years ago

Zach D

9.4

Fantastically pure fruit. Slight rose color, plum, tart cranberry, strawberry, not much autolytic character, but pretty complex otherwise. One of my favorite producers. — a month ago

Matthew Cohen

9.4

Whoa.

Nose: dense. Rich. Some oxidation.

Palate: massive. Bright. Caramel.

Fass selections — 8 months ago

Pooneet K

9.2

Nice older champagne. Quite leesy with very refined and soft bubbles. Rather vinous, in a nice way, with great round acid on the finish. Definitely one to drink up now vs wait any longer! — a year ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.3

Love these still Pinots from Champagne. Nose has crunchy berry and cherry fruit. There is a lipstick like intensity to the wonderfully pure and pointed fruit. Mostly mid season cherries also some roses and lovely chalky background. Palate is vibrant and energetic with terrific clarity and energy and oodles of cherries. Super juicy with such great fruit and a charming rusticity. Interesting flinty and smokey aroma now peeking through. Lovely depth and tannins and such nice acidity. Terrific but I surmise more will come out with air. As it aired it got more texture and deep and so so supple. Wonderful. — 2 years ago

Stefan Dolhain

9.3

2010 Prestige. A blend of Merlot(85%), Malbec (10%)and Cabernet Franc (5%). Another great wine from this estate. Aged in 100% new oak, which is more often than not a red flag to me, but this wine takes it incredibly well. Solid colour, looks younger than its age. Still a lot of (black) fruit, balancing acidity and powerful ripe tannin. Well-integrated alcohol (14,5% abv.). Long minty finish. Vincent Lemaire is a great winemaker (and a bit of an "enfant terrible" with strong opinions) and I feel fortunate to discover these older vintages. Highly recommended. — 5 years ago

Josh Morgenthau

9.3

Green Apple, lots of citrus acidity, fresh zesty fruits and more minerals than the Caillez Lemaire Eclats tasted alongside. Some rubber band and seashells. Fresher, but a touch unresolved by comparison. On the whole a real favorite and a great value. — 6 years ago

Gian Facchini

9.3

Excellent champagne price for value — 6 years ago

Matthew Cohen

9.5

Ok. This is just fucking delicious.

N: brioche and yellow flowers.

P: delicious yellow fruit. Some minerals.

Fass selections — 6 months ago

Shay A

9.3

Last bottle of this. I’d love to acquire some more as these were really enjoyable and totally in my wheelhouse stylistically speaking.

I didn’t catch the disgorgement data on this bottle, but I believe it’s around half Pinot noir, followed by near half split of Chardonnay and Pinot meunier. 5g/l dosage; first fermentation in wood; around 6yrs on lees

Beautiful yellow-gold in the glass. Aromatics of white peach, lightly roasted nuts, and toasted scones. Wonderful texture on the palate (thanks to the well-integrated use of oak and dosage) with great mousse…definitely better closer to cellar temp than ice cold (and in a proper glass, not a flute). Golden raspberries, honeyed tropical fruits, lemon cream, slightly nutty. Carries the 5g perfectly…it feels like no more or no less is needed. Lovely depth and finish.

If you enjoy producers like Bereche and EO, this is a champagne worth exploring. Long lees aging + fair use of oak + ripe fruit makes for a wonderful wine. — 7 months ago

Stefan Dolhain

9.5

2015 vintage. Not 4 U. Only produced once by Vincent Lemaire at Château Rousselle ( Côtes de Bourg). Total production 1500 bottles. — a year ago

Amy Bailey

10

Wow. This is a delicious sparkling wine. It's Pinot Meunier and it's delightful. We chose this as the in the limo, toast before we say "I Do" wine. The fact sheet reports that the Pinot Meunier grapes are manually harvested from a 35-yo vineyard in Champagne, FR. It's produced using a slow 16° alcoholic fermentation, without malolactic fermentation, filtering, and clarification, then it spends 4 years in the cellars. They also use thermoregulated stainless steel tanks. All of this contributes to a not-overly bready/cakey taste, which I do not generally like. This is a really special wine that I can't wait to celebrate with! — 4 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.6

New tete de cuvee from Caillez Lemaire and their new highest end bottling. And it is STUNNING. 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 dripping with character. Herbs as well. So so deep. Just an insane nose. 9.6. Only open 5-8 minutes and it’s changed 5-6 times. Sickness. Virginia was “hoping” I would like it. I wish I could be even as half as humble as her! Wow. That palate has flavor! Flava in my ear as the acid gets to my ear. RIP Craig Mack. Anyway this is bananas. 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. Nose gets tons of saline and iodine 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. — 5 years ago

Severn G

9.3

Killer nose of creamy red fruits, palate is deep with minerals, mild acidity and ripe red fruits, all in a white wine. So lovely, oak aging does wonders for this grape.

Last time we had this bottle was in the cellar of C-L, no finer hosts. 100% Pinot Meunièr (2014 fruit), so technically a Blanc de Noirs. This bottle was sealed on 31 May 2015 and bottle number 199 of 1220 produced.

Relaxing by a fire in the chimenea tonight, our first frost was finally this morning. Nice and cool tonight, the warmth of the flames is satisfying. — 7 years ago