Champagne Guillaume Selosse, Largillier, Extra Brut

Guillaume Selosse

Based in the village of Avize in the Côte des Blancs region of Champagne, Guillaume Selosse is regarded for its exceptional quality and innovative winemaking techniques. Guillaume Selosse himself is the son of Anselme Selosse, considered one of the pioneers of the modern Champagne movement. Anselme Selosse is known for his commitment to terroir-driven winemaking and his use of organic and biodynamic practices in the vineyard.

Guillaume Selosse took over the family estate in 2008 and has continued his father's legacy of producing high-quality, terroir-driven Champagnes. The estate owns several vineyards in the Côte des Blancs region, known for its chalky soils and ideal conditions for growing Chardonnay grapes.

Guillaume Selosse's Champagnes are made using traditional methods, focusing on minimal intervention and allowing the grapes to express their natural characteristics. The wines are aged in French oak barrels, which adds complexity and depth to the final product.

A range of Champagnes are produced at the estate, including Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs, and Rosé.

Blanc de Noirs

Blanc de Noirs describes a wine produced entirely from black grapes. In Champagne, Blanc de Noirs cuvée can be made from the two black grapes permitted within the appellation, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Bollinger's prestige cuvée Vieilles Vignes Françaises, from ungrafted, old Pinot Noir vines, has set the yardstick in a style that is now produced by a number of other Champagne houses.

Recommended Producers: Cedric Bouchard, Bollinger

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or.

Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.

Because of the thinness of the skins, Pinot Noir wines are lighter in colour, body and tannins. However the best wines have grip, complexity and an intensity of fruit seldom found in wine from other grapes. Young Pinot Noir can smell almost sweet, redolent with freshly crushed raspberries, cherries and redcurrants. When mature, the best wines develop a sensuous, silky mouth feel with the fruit flavours deepening and gamey "sous-bois" nuances emerging.

The best examples are still found in Burgundy, although Pinot Noir`s key role in Champagne should not be forgotten. It is grown throughout the world with notable success in the Carneros and Russian River Valley districts of California, and the Martinborough and Central Otago regions of New Zealand.