2009 Jacques Selosse, Millesime

Disgorged in January 2020, the 2009 Extra-Brut Premier Cru Millésime represents a new direction for Selosse's vintage bottling, as Guillaume Selosse wanted to produce this cuvée from all of the six villages in which the domaine's holdings are located. The resulting wine is spectacular, soaring from the glass with a deep and complex bouquet of mandarin orange, honeycomb, ripe peaches, freshly baked bread, almond paste and dried apricots. Full-bodied, deep and complete, it's elegantly muscular and multidimensional, with extraordinary mid-palate amplitude, ripe but lively acids and a long, intensely sapid finish.

The 2009 Extra-Brut Millesime Grand Cru is a huge, exotic wine. Candied apricot, spice, tropical fruit and toasted notes all build in the glass. In 2009, the vintage wine is just that - wine. This is an especially honeyed, vinous Champagne, even by Selosse's standards. I would cellar it for a few years to see if some of the baby fat melts away Today it is decidedly opulent. Disgorged: January 29, 2020.

Tasted as Brut Nature that was disgorged the same day at the Trait d'Union tasting in Vertus in April 2018, Anselme Selosse's 2009 Grand Cru Millésime is a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from diverse terroirs. Very clear and intense on the chalky but also fruity nose, this is a very mineral and chalky yet fine and textured cuvée with ripe fruit and an expressive finish with lingering iodine flavors.