Champagne Selosse – Avize part 1

Undoubtedly, Anselm Selosse became in some twenty years one of the leading figures of Champagne. His experiments, his pursuit of perfection have attracted the interest of the whole profession and, of course, fans like us. This in itself symbolizes the surge qualitative champagne winemakers in recent years.

Created by Jacques Selosse, Father Anselm, the area now totals 7.5 hectares spread over 47 plots. The key is in the heart of the Cote des Blancs (Avize Cramant, Oger, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger), vineyards planted with Chardonnay which added a few nice hills pinot noir from the Montagne de Reims Aÿ , Ambonnay and Mareuil-sur-Ay. That land so beautiful.


You have to meet Anselm Selosse realized he had more than its wines to offer: it’s a philosophy he shares with us the relation of man to nature.

For Anselm Selosse, the soil is a harmonious society which bears fruit marked by their origin. The vine is cultivated as a forest species selected. The man must not seek to intervene too much because it might break the singularity, it must assimilate, understand before acting. On this theme, Anselm Selosse is very sensitive to such theories Masanobu Fukuoka on the non-action and contemplation on permaculture. The man must accompany without imposing.

This does not mean that everything is done alone, man can make improvements but must remain consistent with the ensemble. All his thoughts led Anselm Selosse to take some distance with biodynamics while recognizing its benefits. In fact, he does not want to be locked into a doctrine, if it is interesting ..

A corollary of this approach, the research is part of the maturity of the grapes, another hallmark of the approach of Anselm Selosse. If making with champagne grapes fully ripe is a more widespread today, it has not always been so. In any case, the vine is the most important: “100% identity of a wine from the vineyard. In winemaking, you can only lose, hide or destroy. ”

Continue to Champagne Selosse – Avize part 2