Please explain why you love Jacques Selosse Champagnes

WINE TALK
42

Love Substance, find Initial less interesting.

3 Likes
43

Personal preferences aside, as they are subjective and individuals are, naturally, entitled to their own opinions, this still doesn’t disprove that they both are rich and powerful styles of Champagne.

For me, Mesnil is the weakest of their line up (and I use the term “weakest” loosely as Krug, for me, is always fantastic). Vintage and Grande CuvĂ©e would be the best “everyday” examples with Clos d’Ambonnay being the best overall bottling thought that enters an entirely different price point all together.

44

[quote=“Yao_C, post:41, topic:292005, full:true”]I believe it is the oldest solera of all the lieux dits, previously bottled as “Contraste,” which might explain why it is so intensely
 uh
 Selossian
[/quote]

Yes, that’s right. I’ve also had the Contraste, which I (personally) think should have been drunk some time ago.

45

My personal preferences aside*, I agree that they’re very different wines. To the extent they’re similar in terms of power, I think that’s mostly the oak influence, and lots of other champagnes have similar type of power.

*In the same way that William discussed the different periods of Selosse, Krug has also gone through different periods.

1 Like
46

I could not agree more. I have enjoyed Selosse for a while, but last year had the pleasure of staying at his Hotel for 2 nights
 and had a great tasting with him.

selosse mem
selosse mem1920×1440 356 KB

47

Cross posting.

Got to try 10 different bottles of Selosse last night - 5 different disgorgement dates for initial and Millesime, VO , Substance and Rose.

Here is where I personally landed:

  1. I wouldn’t pay $350 -$400 for Initial. I liked it a lot but didn’t stand out vs other champagnes , some from his disciples (Miniere, Chartogne Taillet etc)

  2. Each one of his Millesime, Substance, VO and Rose were fantastic. 2003 base rose is one of the best roses that I have had.

IMG_2498
IMG_24982053×2707 1.16 MB

IMG_2494
IMG_24944032×3024 2.2 MB

3 Likes
48

Price can’t be ignored, and I don’t see or buy Selosse any longer, but when you could buy Initial at $125-150 on restaurant wine lists a decade ago it was a very unique expression in a sea of Champagne offerings and we drank it when we saw it on lists as it was far less than Krug or DP and offered a unique set of flavors and aromas.

1 Like