Champagne Jacques Selosse Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Substance NV (Solera 1986-2016, Disg. Feb 24)

Solera 1986-2016; Base 2016. Disgorged February 2024. Substance is drawn from a perpetual blend that began in 1986. Selosse’s idea is to “purge a wine of the organic, leaving behind only the mineral”. The juice comes from two sites in Avize: one facing south, Les Marvillannes, and one facing east, Les Chantereines. Every release spends five to six years on lees and is bottled with a dosage of between zero and 2 g/L. As opposed to the Millésime, this is a wine where the process is designed to remove vintage from the equation, leaving behind an expression of the place through time. This legendary wine is always a fascinating, full-bodied and incredibly deep Champagne and, in keeping with the age of the blend, it is also the most complex and developed in style. There are no third-party notes yet, but for reference, William Kelley of The Wine Advocate gave the last release 99 points.