Jacques Selosse Initial 2019 750mL

Initial is the Jacques Selosse Blanc de Blancs that most drinkers meet first: grand cru Chardonnay from Avize, Cramant and Oger, blended across three vintages. It is also the domaine's largest cuvée, and this bottle is listed under 2019.

About This Champagne

Initial comes from lower-slope parcels, mainly in Avize and Cramant with a smaller part from Oger, where the topsoil holds more clay and the chalk underneath is more broken up. Three consecutive harvests are blended, each fermented in 228-litre barrels on native yeasts. Dosage is kept very low. The domaine disgorges Initial several times a year, so the back label date matters.

Tasting Profile

• Nose: Baked apple, lemon confit and pear, with hazelnut, fresh bread, beeswax and chalk.
• Palate: Full and textured, with ripe orchard fruit held in check by lively acidity and a fine, creamy mousse.
• Finish: Saline and lasting, with a small bitter-almond note.

Serving & Food

Serve at 10 to 12°C in a white Burgundy glass and let it breathe for a while. Try it with pan-fried sea bass, roast chicken with tarragon or a wedge of 24-month Comté.

How to Enjoy

A good first Selosse bottle for anyone wanting to understand the domaine, and a reliable choice with fish and white meat.

Product Details

About the Maison

Anselme Selosse likes to say he is not a winemaker but something closer to a midwife, there to bring each vineyard into the world rather than to impose a house style. He and his wife Corinne also run Les Avisés, a small hotel and restaurant above the cellars in Avize, where guests can taste the wines alongside the family.

That idea of place over brand led to the Lieux-Dits range, introduced in 2010: six single-parcel wines from six villages, including Les Carelles in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Les Chantereines in Avize. Initial stands at the other end of the range, a blend meant to show the Côte des Blancs as a whole.