Jacques Selosse Initial Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut

Professional Ratings

• 95 Wine Spectator

  This gorgeous blanc de blancs pulls you in with a subtle thread of enticing dried rose and incense accents. Plush on the palate, with pinpricks of effervescence and a rich underpinning of chopped hazelnut and salty minerality, all supporting flavors of quince paste and tangerine and hints of white truffle and herbes de Provence. Long and supple on the clean-cut finish.

• 94 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  Disgorged in May 2021, the latest rendition of Selosse's NV Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Initial is showing beautifully, unwinding in the glass with aromas of pear, dried fruits, confit lemon, fenugreek, fresh bread and toasted almonds. Full-bodied, vinous and complex, it's a rich, fleshy Champagne that's underpinned by bright acids and complemented by a pinpoint mousse, concluding with a long, sapid finish. As usual, this bottling derives from the lower-altitude slopes of Avize, Cramant and Oger, where the soils are richer in clay and yields are higher when compared with the vineyards that inform V. O. Best After 2021

• 94 Jeb Dunnuck

  The NV Champagne Grand Cru Blanc De Blancs Initial is a blend of the 2016, 2015, and 2014 harvests from the lower portion of the slopes of Avize, Oger, and Cramant. The soils in that area are more clay and more fertile, resulting in more abundant yields that lend the wine a more open-knit profile. Pouring a golden straw hue, this wine is expressive, with brothy aromas of apricot, Meyer lemon, and baked bread. Supple and inviting, the palate displays a rounded mouthfeel with more modest acidity. It has a very fine mousse and shows off its rich, chalky texture, savory salinity, and broad, almond-noted finish.