NV - Jacques Selosse, Lieux-dits Le Bout du Clos

The most harmonious wine of the six lieux-dits this year—and one of the finest renditions of this cuvée—is the 2018-based NV Ambonnay Le Bout du Clos, disgorged in February 2025 without dosage. The wine unfurls from the glass with a deep bouquet of orange oil, dried flowers, lychee and Sichuan pepper, mingled with kumquat and almond paste. On the palate, it is full-bodied and precise, with an elegantly muscular core of fruit, uniting the typical depth of complexity attained in this bottling with ample structuring extract that provides a vivid sense of freshness. Simultaneously grandiose and racy, it is driven by a bright spine of acidity and culminates in a long, searingly saline finish. Multifaceted and complete, it encapsulates everything that is so compelling about the Selosse lieux-dits. As ever, it derives from two south-facing parcels within the same lieu-dit that are characterized by clay-rich soils, and it is composed of approximately 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay, which are picked and pressed together. The historic blend dates back to 2002.

The NV (2019) Extra-Brut Ambonnay Le Bout du Clos is powerful and explosive in the glass. A field blend of 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay, the Ambonnay really stands out in this release with a light reductive character that adds layers of complexity. Kirsch, white flowers, chalk, mint, herbs, citrus confit race across the palate, frame. A stunning, riveting young Selosse Champagne. Dosage is 1.7 grams per liter. Disgorged: January 27, 2026.

An 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay from a single plot in Ambonnay, the Selosse Le Bout du Clos NV is always more than 50% from a perpetual reserve started in 2002 (until the 2015 for this bottling), with the remaining 50% of current vintage wine, which in this cuvée is 2016. The eye takes the first sip gazing at the gorgeous, deep burnished gold to brightly polished copper wine with pinpoint bubbles briefly floating upwards with metronome regularity, until they vanish altogether to reveal rich and expressive oxidized aromas of bruised apple, poached pear, yuzu confit and lemon zest swirling amid lofty lactic notes, warm honeycomb, and hints of caramel. Medium to full-bodied, ample, and richly fruited, the palate lights up with a satiny effervescence of undulating, saline acidity adding buoyant freshness and energy to a very long, harmonious finish with an attractive bitter note. Excellent grape maturity from the vintage gives it a bit more alcohol at 13%. The bottle tasted was disgorged January 2023 and finished with a 0.67 grams per liter dosage.