Lamy-Caillat

At the end of a recent tasting in the cellars of Vosne-Romanée royalty Comte Liger-Belair with owner/vigneron Louis-Michel and another knowledgeable guest, conversation turned to Burgundy’s best new winemakers. “There’s a young domaine producing extraordinary wines in the Côte de Beaune, but they make so little to go around that you’d have to buy me quite a few drinks for me to say who,” said the co-taster to Noble Rot/ Shrine to the Vine co-founder Dan Keeling.

“Are they in Chassagne-Montrachet?”, asked Dan. The man tried to maintain his poker face. “Yes”. “Is it Lamy-Caillat?”. “What?!” the taster spluttered, “How d’you know?”. “Because we’re fortunate to import Lamy-Caillat into the UK and their old-fashioned style Chassagne-Montrachets are exceptionally good.” So much for secrets.

Sébastien Caillat and Florence Lamy’s micro-domaine began with only 1.2ha of vines, yet it already produces wines to rival any in Chassagne-Montrachet. Honing their craft at Florence’s family estate, Lamy-Pillot, the couple got the opportunity to rent a small number of vines from an elderly neighbour in 2008. They produce just 500 cases of wine annually, from Bourgogne Blanc through village vineyards to some of the best 1er Crus, including ‘Les Champs Gains’, ‘La Romanée’ and ‘Les Caillerets’ – the jewels of the appellation.

Sébastien and Florence describe their ethos as “minimalist and essential”, taking as much time with all aspects of production as they deem appropriate. Meticulously farmed, organic fruit goes into an old Vaslin mechanical press (that the highly skilled Sébastien has renovated himself) before a two-year élevage in particularly cold, damp cellars. Hand-bottled without filtration, each wine receives a layer of wax on top of long corks (using a machine designed by Sébastien) to reduce oxidation.