Jacques Selosse

“Nature is larger and bigger than all of us. It’s crazy to think that man can dominate nature.”

Anselme Selosse issued this profound statement while explaining his winemaking philosophy one recent morning at his small property in Avize, a village in Champagne’s Côte des Blancs.
“Wines must show the characteristics of the place,” he continued. “Illuminating the vineyard is my obsession.”
For Selosse, wine has a higher purpose. A wine must...

“It is hard to think of a single individual in Champagne today whose work ... is more influen- tial than that of Anselme Selosse ... if the future of Champagne truly is going to be one in which terroir plays more of a role then the region as a whole will have to pay more attention to Selosse and less to its accountants and brand managers.”

Andrew Jeffords, The New France

“I’ve mentioned the name of Anselme Selosse on several occasio...

Similar to the very top producers in Burgundy, Selosse adopted biodynamic viticulture and continues to strive hard to express the characteristics of the underlying terrior. With a mere 7.5 hectare of vineyards, Domaine Jacques Selosse only produces 4,750 cases per year

Today, the Selosses has some forty parcels spread throughout Avize, Cramant, le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Ambonnay. Following with Burgundian tradition, the wines are fermented in barrel. My job is to find "each individual character its rightful home”. "I am not the master, merely a servant to all these different personalities.” Anselme Selosse.

It is a measure of what Anselme has accomplished that in 1994, Gault-Millau named him France’s best wi...

Perhaps Anselme’s most important insight was that to make profound Champagne, you must start with a great wine for the base. Fortunately for him, he was blessed with spectacular grand cru vineyard holdings in Avize, Cramant, and Oger.

In fact, while much has been made of his winemaking methods, Anselme’s emphasis on viticulture and terroir may have been his greatest advance. He is one of the world’s most profound thinkers about the relation...