Lieux-dits Les Carelles
⏳ Drinking Window
2022 - 2035
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Roasted turbot, aged Comte cheese, roasted veal sweetbreads
✨ Technical Specifications
Hailing from the legendary Grand Cru village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Les Carelles is a mesmerizing expression of Chardonnay shaped by the visionary winemaking of the Selosse estate. The name of this lieu-dit pays homage to the historic square chalk quarries, or carelles, once mined in this specific, steeply sloped hillside vineyard. Here, the vines dig deep into pure, powdery limestone, yielding grapes of fierce acidity and crystalline minerality. To capture the true essence of this terroir rather than the variation of individual years, a solera-style perpetual reserve system was initiated in 2003. Aged in oak casks, this unique approach tempers the naturally austere, razor-sharp chalkiness of Le Mesnil with a rich, oxidative complexity, resulting in a Champagne of unparalleled depth, tension, and vinous character.
🍾 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
🍷 Alcohol By Volume (ABV)
12.5%