Exquise Demi-Sec
⏳ Drinking Window
2021 - 2028
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Foie gras, tarte tatin, mildly spiced Asian cuisine
✨ Technical Specifications
Jacques Selosse's Exquise Demi-Sec is a profound reimagining of a historically celebrated but modernly misunderstood style of Champagne. While most contemporary Champagne houses focus heavily on Extra Brut or Brut Nature, Anselme Selosse created Exquise to demonstrate that dosage, when executed with masterly precision, can elevate rather than mask a wine's terroir. Crafted entirely from Grand Cru Chardonnay grapes grown in the chalky soils of Avize, this Blanc de Blancs undergoes fermentation in oak casks using indigenous yeasts. What sets Exquise apart is its dosage of approximately 22 to 24 grams per liter, which is remarkably integrated due to the immense concentration, vinous texture, and vibrant acidity of the base wine. It stands as a tribute to the 19th-century tradition when sweeter Champagnes ruled the royal courts of Europe, delivered here with Selosse's signature oxidative complexity, notes of candied citrus, honeyed hazelnuts, and a deep, saline minerality.
🍾 About the Producer
Founded in the 1950s by Jacques Selosse and propelled to legendary status by his visionary son Anselme Selosse, Domaine Jacques Selosse is based in the Grand Cru village of Avize in the heart of Champagne's Côte des Blancs. Anselme took over the estate in 1980 after studying in Burgundy, fundamentally revolutionizing the grower Champagne movement through meticulous, non-interventionist viticulture, minimal yields, and native yeast fermentations in oak barrels. Renowned for a singular, vinous, and lightly oxidative style, the house crafts profoundly complex cuvées, including the solera-aged Substance, the precise Initial and Version Originale, and an acclaimed collection of single-parcel Lieux-dits. Today, along with Anselme's son Guillaume, the domaine continues to set the benchmark for terroir-focused, artisanal Champagne with unrivaled depth and expressive minerality.
🍇 Grape Varieties
Chardonnay 100%
🍷 Alcohol By Volume (ABV)
12%