NV Le Mesnil Sur Oger 'Les Carelles' Extra Brut (Disgorged '21/'22)

Each of the Lieu Dit selections are put into a perpetual reserve, with Les Carelles started in 2003, and this release includes the addition of the 2017 vintage, with a much smaller yield incorporated. (He allows for the reserve to fluctuate based on vintage. 2018, for example, was a much higher yielding vintage, so a much larger proportion was added to the blend for the next release, which was not tasted for this report.) The NV Champagne Grand Cru Les Carelles Extra Brut takes on more notable flinty aromas on opening and is a bit more reserved on the nose initially. Boasting a bright straw/yellow color, it shows off notes of white peach, fresh flowers, saline, and crushed stones. The palate is focused and refined, with an ultra-fine mousse, a persistent, stony texture, and a savory, mouthwatering finish. Allow another couple of years for this one. Drink 2026-2046. The wines for this report were tasted at the cellar in Avize with Anselme Selosse in September 2024.

Based on the 2017 vintage, the NV Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil-sur-Oger Les Carelles is the crowning achievement of an extraordinary lineup of Jacques Selosse lieux-dits this year and entirely transcends the reputation typically associated with the base year. Disgorged in January 2024 without dosage, it derives from two plots (pressed together) in the same lieu-dit: the smallest south- facing plot yielding small, concentrated berries and the larger, facing east. Les Carelles was one of the first wines of Selosse I ever tasted, back when it was still a novelty in the range, and I vividly remember the emotions it evoked—I had never tasted Le Mesnil like this before. Exploding from the glass and revealing a bouquet of kaleidoscopic complexity, it offers aromas of ripe citrus fruit, pine resin, dried fig, smoke and tangerine. Elegantly charming, with tangy underlying acidity, it concludes with a long, chalky finish. Based on a historical blend started in 2003, with the youngest wine from 2017, it’s a seamless rendition, uniting the generosity of perpetual component and the amplitude of the year with the tension of the site. As always, the base vintage (about 60% of the final blend) is aged for 10 months in 228-liter barrels (around 20% new), then briefly blended in a concrete tank with the perpetual component, which is stored in 12-hectoliter foudre (as are all the lieux-dits, with the exception Les Chantereines and Chemin de Chalons, which are kept in eight-hectoliter foudre). After refilling the foudre, the rest is bottled, meaning the quantity per year varies, based on generosity and quality of the vintage. Champagne doesn’t get much better than this—it’s worth every effort to seek out.