Description
Claude Cazals, “La Chapelle du Clos” Grand Cru Millésime
A champagne secret? In this day and age? Some would say impossible, but hear me out: Less than 5% of all champagnes are vintage-dated, far fewer hold a fabled Grand Cru status, and only the tiniest percentage of those Grand Cru vintage bottlings hail from a walled vineyard. These are known as “clos” and they’re extraordinarily thin on the ground. Many of you are familiar with the two blockbusters (Clos d’Ambonnay; Clos du Mesnil) but there’s another far-more-secretive “clos” that’s mesmerized champagne insiders for a quarter-century—Clos Cazals.
This three-hectare site, shrouded by a stone wall, hugs a historic church in the Grand Cru village of Oger. Some, including me, believe this treasured terroir to be “one of Champagne’s best-kept secrets,” and after comparing its exacting élevage, superb quality, and generous price with the cult competition, I don’t think anyone of sound mind could disagree. Tonight’s 2016 “La Chapelle du Clos” is a broad, opulent, profoundly textured Grand Cru Chardonnay that reinvigorated and deepened my love for luxury Blanc de Blancs. It’s staggeringly delicious stuff, but there’s hardly any to share. Procrastinating is ill-advised.
NOTE: For those seeking Cazals’ longer-aged, old-vine prestige cuvée, tonight’s your lucky night. We have a tiny supply of their 2013 “Clos Cazals” available here. No more than two bottles per person. My advice though? Do not forgo the Chapelle. Trust me.
From coopers to winemaking superstars, the origins of the Cazals family in Champagne start in the final years of the 19th century when Ernest Cazal, a native of Languedoc, resettled in the village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. Today’s prestige “La Chapelle du Clos” bottling, however, didn’t come until much later. For that, we have two people to thank: (1) Olivier Cazals, who first purchased and planted this prized clos to Grand Cru Chardonnay in the 1950s, and (2) his granddaughter and current proprietor Delphine, who was the first to craft a cuvée entirely from this distinct site in the 1990s. Two wines are made from within the clos: the pricier, longer-aged “Clos Cazals” which comes from the oldest vines, and today’s “La Chapelle du Clos” which hails from a gently sloping plot within the clos that Delphine and her father planted 30 years ago.
Other than exclusivity, another key benefit of a clos is that the enclosed vines enjoy more heat retention—in some vintages, a full degree riper than neighboring vineyards! That additional boost in ripening proved to be a major boon in the cooler 2016 vintage. Cazals’ precious fruit was hand-harvested and shuttled a few minutes south to their cellar in the bordering town of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. The Grand Cru Chardonnay was gently pressed and both alcoholic and malolactic fermentations were carried out in a mixture of stainless steel and French barrels. After bottling, the wine aged for over 60 months in their hand-carved, vaulted chalk cellar. The dosage came in at just two grams of sugar.
I must reiterate an earlier note: While the pricier 2013 “Clos Cazals” we’re offering as a bonus is certainly a wine that serious collectors should procure, it is still evolving and has yet to reach its full potential. This 2016 “La Chapelle du Clos,” however, is primed and raring to go at a much more affordable price. It’s a stunning Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs, exploding with lively and intoxicating aromas of creamy peach, yellow apple, nougat, green and yellow pear, lemon preserves, crushed chalk, toasted nuts, yellow flowers, and pastry dough. The palate is lush, densely packed, and broadly textured while rapidly expanding with an incredible depth of minerality and savor on the finish. It’ll square off with any cult BdB you throw at it. Guaranteed. Enjoy now and over the next 5-7 years in Burgundy stems.
