Jacques Selosse

Jacques Selosse is what they call a “Cult” Champagne house. It is small, family-run, and fiercely independent. The focus here is on the land, the grapes, and the natural process of turning them into wine. The result? Bottles that are hard to find, sometimes controversial, but always full of character. If you ever get the chance to try one, you’ll taste a Champagne that’s as much about the place and the people as it is about what is in the glass.

History

The history of Jacques Selosse dates back to 1949, when the estate itself was founded by Jacques Selosse. For many years, the family sold their grapes to the large houses of Champagne, but in 1974, Jacques’ son, Anselme Selosse, entered the family business. Having studied winemaking in Beaune, Burgundy, Anselme came back with some revolutionary ideas that greatly affected the way the Champagne was made. No longer were the Selosse family’s grapes just a part of some faceless blend; now, thanks to Anselme, the family made a Champagne that very much expressed the place from which it came.

By the late 1970s, Anselme was experimenting, reducing sugar, using less intervention in the cellar, and really try to get in on the character of the vineyards. In 1980, Anselme and his wife Corinne took the reins. Since then, the estate has become a benchmark for growers who want to make Champagne that really expresses the individuality of the terroir.

Today, Jacques Selosse is still a family affair. Nearly everyone in the Champagne area would cop to admiring the work of Anselme and his father, Jacques. The name is synonymous with the inspiration of a new generation of Champagne producers. Nearly all of them are doing something, anything, that distinguishes their champagne from anything in the past.

The Vineyards

About seven hectares of vines belong to Jacques Selosse. Most of these are planted to Chardonnay in some of the best Grand Cru villages of the Côte des Blancs, Avize, Cramant, and Oger. Also, there are small parcels of Pinot Noir in the Grand Cru villages of Aÿ and Ambonnay.

The vineyards are run with an extreme attention to sustainability and biodiversity. Selosse employs biodynamic principles, avoids synthetic fertilizers, and works the soil by hand. Every two years, the team adds organic compost deep into the soil to keep it rich, healthy, and full of life. The vines are kept low, and yields are much lower than average for Champagne, which means more concentration and character in the grapes.

The Terroir

If the word terroir comes up again and again in conversations about Jacques Selosse, it’s for good reason. For Anselme Selosse, terroir is not just about the soil; it’s about everything that makes a vineyard unlike any other, from climate to microclimate to the very specific farming practices employed.

The Côte des Blancs is well-known for chalky soils that confer bright acidity and pronounced minerality to the Chardonnay grown there. Disciples of Amplified Minimalism, the Selosse team embraces styles that highlight the Champagne’s Chardonnay, the amplify worksite, and the cover crops that lead to some of the richest biodiverse in the 15 Crus of the Champagne region. The cave is left unadorned and uncluttered, thus allowing the wines to express their innate qualities. Selosse’s methods and philosophy yield Chardonnays that ascend beyond reason.

The Grapes Used

The bulk of the estate’s plantings are Chardonnay, making it the star at Jacques Selosse. Almost all the wines are Blanc de Blancs, meaning they’re made entirely from Chardonnay grapes grown in Grand Cru villages.

A small quantity of Pinot Noir from Aÿ and Ambonnay makes its way into some of the estate's special cuvées. But what truly defines the house style is its Chardonnay from Avize, Cramant, and Oger: pure, mineral, and intense.

Way of Winemaking

Selosse’s winemaking is about as hands-on as it gets. Healthy grapes from the vineyard are the necessary foundation for the kind of winemaking that Selosse is known for. The grapes are pressed, and the fermentation happens in oak barrels, many of which come from top Burgundy producers like Domaine Leflaive. About 20 to 25% of the barrels are new each year, which helps the wine to “breathe” and develop complexity.

Importantly, Selosse employs only wild yeasts—no commercial strains are used. The fermentation can stretch out for months, sometimes lasting all the way into July. There is no malolactic fermentation, so the wines retain their natural acidity and freshness.

The wines age on their lees for long stretches, really allowing depth and texture to develop. There’s almost no intervention: they don’t filter anything, and the dosage (the sugar added just before corking) is so low that it really allows the *wine* to show off its natural flavors. 

One of the most renowned wines, "Substance," is produced using a solera system, a technique imported from sherry making, in which reserve wines from 20 different vintages are blended. The result is a wine that is both intricate and steady, with a set of flavors that stretches the definition of what a Champagne can be.

The different Cuveés of Jacques Selosse

Jacques Selosse produces 12 Champages. These are the 6 Lieux Dits, also called the jacques Selosse Lieux-Dits Collection:

• Cramant Chemin de Chalons
• La Cote Faron
• Le Bout du Clos
• Les Carelles
• Sous Le Mont
• Les Chantereines

And 6 other Champagnes:

• Initial
• Version Originale (V.O.)
• Substance
• Brut Rosé
• Millésimé
• Exquise Blanc de Blancs Sec

Only around 55.000 bottles are produced every year, so it isn’t very easy to obtain a bottle. Moreover, the bottles are very much sought-after by connoisseurs.

3 Nice To Know Facts

- The Lunar Calendar: The full moon closest to the summer solstice is when Anselme times the bottling for the second fermentation. He believes it imparts extra vitality to the wine, based on years of observation, not just tradition.

- No Make-Up Needed: Selosse’s motto is that "great Champagne doesn’t need any make-up." That’s why he keeps the dosage to an absolute minimum and never uses selected yeasts or chemical additives.

- The "Substance" cuvée employs a solera begun in 1986. Every year, the newest wine becomes part of a blend of reserve wines from earlier vintages, producing a Champagne that’s a living history of the vineyard.