Tried a few bottles over the years, and one yesterday, the Substance. Still shaking my head. A slightly weird wet animal fur note, but otherwise nothing special, and certainly nothing to justify the price. What am I missing?
2 Likes
Isnāt that cork taint? Quintessential wet fur.
3 Likes
Iām with you, Mark - not a fan. I find it so overtly rich, yeasty, funky, just canāt understand the hype, but, as with many āfamousā wines, Iām often hesitant to share this opinion.
5 Likes
I have not that much Selosse, but the ones I have had have a certain oxidized quality to them like wines used to have from Kohler Ruprecht (not sure if these still do, have not had one in a long time). Some people like that. I am not a fan of this style of wine.
1 Like
Not that I have had a ton of Selosse, only various Initial disgorgements, but I fancy BdB over blends, so that is 1 point going for it. In the BdB universe I enjoyed the richness and acidity balance and really pinpoint mousse. Never had one that pushed boundaries on oxidation.
You could find it pretty easily around WA on wine lists for $200 since its not a great Champagne market and it never really moved off wine lists.
2 Likes
I have only tried Initial and the six lieux-dits (and didnāt love all of the latter) but at their best the wines are uniquely vinous, layered and complex and while oxidative also extremely vibrant and drinkable. And gastronomic!
2 Likes
Not for me; it was a completely different āanimalā to cork taint.
The yeastiness, which BTW was less than the last bottle of Selosse I had, was at my extreme tolerance, but the added funk did not add to the experience.
1 Like
Seconded.
Iāve heard that Selosseās rosĆ©s can get a bit too wild and are quite a minefield, some even showing rather elevated levels of VA, but the single bottle Iāve had was a superb wine by any standards. Not even particularly oxidative, mind you!
2 Likes
You have to like the style, which I do. My wife LOVES selosse. At our last DRC dinner 15 substance was her WOTN.
1 Like
You have to love the irony.
Just got an email
Like Selosse? Try Michel Fallon Ozanne
2 Likes
Similar feelings to Kris, especially regarding BdB wines. Iāve only had one bottle of Initial, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. I would still choose Doyard and Larmandier-Bernier wines over the Selosse, but this was very tasty.
It was relatively seamless, nicely balanced between texture and tension, with little funk. It seemed a touch more oxidative than many but stayed to the good side in all of itās quirks. Acidity was moderate, in the way many of the grower darlings seem to be(Prevost and Bouchard come to mind) but it wasnāt lacking.
1 Like
One thing about Selosse that I found interesting was his use of a Solera style process. There are a lot of things about this that make sense from a cellar perspective, and when I began planning for our sparkling wines I seriously considered the idea for our wines.
However, and I have not tried the Selosse version, every sparkling I have tried using a version of the Solera system has been underwhelming to me, lacking clarity and precision in the wines(IMO) as well as somewhat regularly having an āold wine in an old barrelā note to me that doesnt really light my fire at all.
1 Like
First, itās important to observe that there have been different eras chez Selosse. Disgorgements from the early 2010s, for example, did often evolve quite rapidly in bottle; but that does not seem to have been the case for quite some time now, and I tend to think Selosse has never been more consistent or better than today.
The style is certainly divisive. As Anselme put it, his aspiration was (I use the past tense as he is formally retired) to make very intensely characterful wines that would appeal intensely to fans but which are certainly not designed to appeal to everyone. He wanted to find his niche, not make a mass-market product of universal appeal.
People who like them a lot (as I do) prize them for the way in which biological aging under flor and the patina of comparatively extended time in barrel bring new dimensions of flavor and complexity to the genre of Champagne; and for their striking concentration and vinous style which makes them among the most textural, powerful, gastronomic wines in Champagne. Those, of course, are the very characteristics that do not appeal to people who do not like the wines; so Selosse can safely be said to have achieved his objective.
9 Likes
Iāve had Initial quite a few times at this point, and itās extremely variable, even within the same disgorgement. The best bottles have been amazing. Theyāve also been among the least oxidative and funky. The more oxidative/funky bottles have sometimes been weird, to an extent that my wife flat-out didnāt like one of them, and she loves Champagne.
The one time I had Substance it was everything I sometimes donāt like about Initial, amplified.
Tom Stevenson has written about judges rejecting Selosse bottles for being oxidized, then finding the replacement bottles about the same. If I remember correctly, he said some of the same judges love Selosse when they arenāt tasting it blind.
I had a bottle recently that I quite enjoyed, but even at pricing from 5-8 years ago, I was out because of the extreme variability. Thereās nothing else Iāve had that reminds me of Selosse. Sometimes thatās a good thing for Selosse, sometimes not. The couple of best bottles of Intiial Iāve had were near the very upper tier of my Champagne experiences (second to only a few). Iāve opened and tasted many other bottles to find those ones.
1 Like
I have written several times that if you donāt like Selosse, Substance is the wine you will like the least, because it is the wine that pushes his methods the furthest. Obviously, the converse is true for fans.
4 Likes
Iāve had very little Selosse in the last 20 years since prices started escalating. I remember paying $55 at Columbus Circle wines for the Rose when they were the only people carrying it because Selosse didnāt want to export to the US. Substance was $75.
But those earlier bottles were some of my most memorable Champagnes.
One Rose that a friend hand carried back from France was quite simply, to my palate, a perfect wine. Flavorful, complex, balanced.
The only one Iāve had at all recently was an Initiale at La Fete du Champagne. It was my first Initiale and it was a lovely delicate flower of a Champagne. A true delight.
There was also a single vineyard bottling which Adrian brought to NY about 10 years ago which I liked but was not overwhelmed by.
Of course I love Sherry so take my opinions with as many grains of salt as you like.
2 Likes
I think the rose is one of the best roses made in Champagne (so long as its given a tiny bit of bottle age). Of the current wines chez Selosse, the Au Dessus du Gros Mont is my favorite.
The Cote Faron is that wine for me, personally.
1 Like
Sick and tired of paying $600 to be underwhelmed by a bottle of champagne? Try this one for $400!
2 Likes
Initial is wonderful and when it was sub-$200, an occasional splurge (although at this price point there are/were other I prefer more). The rose is sublime but out of my reach. I do not much care for the Substance, but appreciate it for what it is.
1 Like
Iāve been buying from Selosse since 2004 (I think). Prices remain fair for those lucky to buy direct, though allocations have reduced (particularly for the vintage wine).
As William said I find the wines more consistent now that ever. The Rose in particular is a lot less variable.
From this year all bottles are fitted with RFID which may impact the secondary market.
Curious to see Venn diagrams of Selosse aficionados with Jura and Burgundy, vs non.