I start to notice it 5-10 years after disgorgement. There is no real pattern that I can find as I’ve seen it happen across the line-up and across disgorgement/releases. Some bottles will show great and others just taste old - mature apple flavors with empty acidity.
In general, I tend to drink my Selosse on the younger side (within 5 years of disgorgement) for about 2/3 of my bottles and keep the other 1/3 for longer aging knowing I likely will have a few disappointments.
I’ll also add that I think Selosse often shows a bit “dumb” for at least 9-15 months after disgorgement so I don’t drink them too young either.
I recommend waiting at least 6 months post disgorgement with just about any Champagne and most of the time, a producer times it so that a Champagne doesn’t hit the shelf until it has at least 6 months of disgorgement. In many cases for higher end cuvees, it is 12 months. For smaller producers who don’t have cellar space, have high demand, or need cash flow, you can see wines on the market with only a few months of disgorgement age and this can lead to wines showing a little odd if opened right away. Waiting a year post-disgorgement isn’t that big a deal in my eyes as you are probably going to see most of that passed by the time you purchase a bottle unless you are buying direct from the domaine (which many do with Selosse).
As for drinking them with age, nothing wrong with that, but I have found the bottles to not age uniformly and variability to occur. They can show spectacularly, but I also think they are darn delicious young so no reason to hold them all.
Prices on Selosse are high, but a lot of that is the secondary market. Domaine prices are quite reasonable for the quality with everything essentially between 50-100 Euros per bottle.
Don - Great post. I just enjoyed my first Selosse VO at Le Coquillage in Cancale. The wine was amazing as was the meal! I’m now motivated to explore Champagne further.
Lucky you to have such a great opportunity.
I had dinner at Les Avises on Friday night. The theft has had a huge effect, and not just on the limited tastings/visits (which are basically unavailable if you don’t stay at the hotel, which we did not because they are only open a few nights a week). The restaurant was sold out of almost all of Selosse’s OWN wines, my understanding being that they will remain out of them until the next disgorgement late summer/early fall. They had a SINGLE bottle of the Les Carelles, which they told me they would sell me, but then gave to a long-time friend of the domain who came in later in the evening. We did get to buy some rose, though, which is also what we had with dinner (along with a Lafarge Volnay that was great). Dinner, as Brad mentions, was fantastic - possibly the best overall experience of our entire France trip - and I don’t really love Selosse wines as much as most everyone else!
I had the 2002 earlier in the week at Le Chateaubriand. I thought it was just okay. My wife LOVED it.
I can also recommend staying and dining ar Les Avises. Pre dinner drinks in the lounge room leads naturally to meeting other diners and perhaps trying the bottle they may have bought. This led in our case to sharing a dining table with some hilarious wine trade people from Britain. The kitchen is the “ferrari” of all kitchens and the small number of diners are spoilt by the services of the chef and his partner.
Stephane and Nathalie are the best. Nathalie is such a great front person for the restaurant. My guys loved to banter with her in French. She is very witty. She took care of my wife while we were gone during the day so for that I will forever be greatful. A plus is that she said I looked like “Celine Dion’s husband”.
We were a little rowdy the first night being 6 guys “en vacance” and enjoying some great champagne. I thought we were going to be thrown out. Good thing we had booked the whole hotel. (At least almost.) A fantastic gastronomic experience. An absolutely first rate small hotel also.
![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}
Good thing we had booked the whole hotel. (At least almost.) A fantastic gastronomic experience. An absolutely first rate small hotel also.