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ProducerJacques Selosse
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VintageNon Vintage
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Grape VarietyPinot Noir
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RegionChampagne
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SizeBottle
Anselme Selosse’s ancestors have been growing grapes in Avize for centuries, but it was not until 1959 that his father, Jacques, became the first in the family to produce and sell his own Champagne. That first vintage yielded just 2,500 bottles because Jacques Selosse hedged his bets by continuing to sell virtually all of his grapes. After obtaining a BTS degree in viticulture and enology at Beaune, Anselme Selosse took over from his father, who was by then producing 12,000 bottles per year but was still selling the majority of the crop as grapes to Lanson.
Anselme continued to make Champagne like his father, but confesses, “I did not consume my wines. Then in 1976, my third year of winemaking, I was confronted with a great drought. I said to myself that the grapes were so ripe, I must produce less foam — just a half-mousse. So I put in less sugar, and by doing this I realized I had changed my approach. I discovered freedom.” Since that epiphany, Anselme Selosse has been revered as a Champagne visionary by some and deemed as mad as a hatter by others. He is definitely eccentric, undeniably charismatic and overtly opinionated.
95 Points Antonio Galloni
Selosse’s NV Brut Contraste is simply breathtaking juice. Contraste is 100% Pinot Noir from Aÿ, and is named for the contrast of the sites, some of which offer greater warmth and ripeness, while others, richer in chalk, emphasize cool minerality. The wine reveals superb richness and density in its Pinot fruit, yet remains weightless and stunningly perfumed, with silky tannins that caress the palate in an extraordinary display of sheer class and elegance. Close your eyes and imagine an utterly monumental grand cru Burgundy with bubbles, and that is as good a descriptor as any for what is in the glass in this utterly profound wine.