'One thing is certain: as this domaine wins the recognition it deserves, bottles of Lamy-Caillat are only going to become ever harder to find.’

William Kelley, The Wine Advocate 

Small but mighty, the relatively new micro-domaine Lamy-Caillat began with only 1.2ha of vines yet already produces wines to rival any in Chassagne-Montrachet. When we first tasted them their verve and excitement raised the hairs on the backs of our necks – not something that happens very often. Made from 100% Chardonnay, these Chassagne-Montrachets have all the richness and breadth you’d expect from the appellation, balanced with an intricate mineral and reductive tension – a fiendishly difficult trick to get right. These are A-grade white Burgundies to enjoy young, or to lay down and age. 

 

Florence Lamy, daughter of René, studied winemaking in Beaune before joining Lamy-Pillot, the family business, in 1997. Her husband Sébastien studied civil engineering but joined Lamy-Pillot as head winemaker in 1998. Despite learning their craft at a relatively large estate, Florence and Sébastien were keen to use their own methods on a smaller production, and got their opportunity when an elderly neighbour offered to rent them vines in 2008. They say their ethos is “minimalist and essential”, taking as much time with all aspects of production as they deem appropriate. While there may not be massive volumes of their wines, what there is is painstakingly crafted. 

 

The portfolio of wines includes a Bourgogne Blanc ‘Grandes Corvées’, St Aubin ‘L’Ebaupin’, Chassagne-Montrachet Village (from a plot called ‘Pot Bois’) and the others premier crus: ‘Les Champs Gains’, ‘Grande Montagne’, the expansive ‘La Romanée’ and the linear ‘Les Caillerets.’ A humble but meticulous farmer, Sébastien cultivates beautifully concentrated fruit, which goes in to an old Vaslin mechanical press. The wines have a longer élevage than at most domaines, undergoing alcoholic then malolactic fermentation at a leisurely pace in particularly cold, damp cellars before spending a year maturing in oak (20-25% new), followed by a year on lees in stainless steel tanks. There is no bâtonnage, and the wines are hand-bottled directly from tank without filtration, each one receiving a layer of wax on top of the long corks to reduce the rate of oxidation (Sébastien designed a machine specifically for this). An additional wax seal over the top helps ensure the integrity of the bottles, which arrive in November, ready to enjoy with some age. As a domaine that can genuinely boast quality over quantity, Lamy-Caillat is set for great things.