Champagne Jacques Selosse Retrospective Tasting & Dinner

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | JUNE 08, 2023

I was thrilled to host this intimate Selosse tasting and dinner as part of the special events we are doing around our ten-year anniversary. Over the last few years, the Selosse Champagnes have become so coveted that the opportunity to taste a number of them side by side is quite rare. It was a real pleasure to share the wines with a small group of Vinous subscribers who traveled from all over the world to be part of this magical evening.

I would like to thank Gramercy Tavern’s Executive Chef Michael Anthony and his team for preparing a superb menu. Director of Beverage Erin Healy and her staff did a fabulous job ensuring that the wine service was impeccable.

The room is set in anticipation of this remarkable dinner.

A Brief History

To say Anselme Selosse has been the most influential grower and winemaker in Champagne over the last fifty years would be a massive understatement. After completing his studies in Burgundy, Selosse took over his family’s domaine in 1980 and began to deconstruct traditional Champagne methods and rebuild them with his new vision. Selosse introduced several concepts that were once considered radical in Champagne. These include an emphasis on sustainable farming, low yields in the vineyards, picking at higher sugars, fermentation in small barrels, minimal dosage at bottling and variations on perpetual reserves and solera-style blends, all of which are quite common today. Along the way, Selosse became a huge influence and point of reference for pretty much every young producer embarking on their own path. It was the early days of what became known as grower Champagne. 

Interestingly, Italy was one of the first markets to believe in Selosse. As a result, Italy historically received among the largest allocations of the wines. For many years, Selosse could be found even in the humblest of trattorias. I discovered these wines while working in Italy as an expat in the early 2000s. My favorites were the Rosé and Contraste, known today as La Côte Faron. Back then a bottle of Selosse was a pricey, yet affordable, luxury. Despite his renown elsewhere, Selosse was out of the US market for many years, until 2009, when importer Mannie Berk re-introduced the wines with a series of tastings in New York. Today, the Selosse Champagnes need no introduction, in the United States or anywhere, for that matter. These are among the most coveted bottles in the world.

Today the domaine is run by son Guillaume Selosse, although Anselme is never far away from the action. Guillaume Selosse’s first vintage Champagne was the 2007, which was only released a few years ago. Generational transitions always take a certain amount of time, but that is especially true in Champagne, where wines are often released many years after they were made. Needless to say, it will be fascinating to see how things evolve here in the coming years and decades.

Tasting through the bottles to ensure they are all sound, just in case. I typically write my impressions of the wines before events start.