Chardonnay Archives -

Jacques Selosse Substance Champagne Review – Incredible

If you've spent any time going down the rabbit hole of fine Champagnes, odds are good you've heard the name Jacques Selosse.

Selosse is synonymous with some of the finest wines in all of Champagne, and when we say they are highly sought after, we really mean it. Not only are bottles almost impossible to find, when you do, they likely come at a price that will make even the most interested Champagne drinker do a double take.

When we visited Alsace, we were on the lookout for bottles of Selosse and were, unfortunately, turned off by the price point for bottles to bring home. But we did visit the winery's restaurant, Les Avises, for a lunch on Thanksgiving day where we decided to splurge on their solera style Blanc de Blanc, Substance which has its origins dating back to my own birth year- 1986!

Was it the most expensive bottle of wine we've ever purchased? Yes. Are we glad we bought it? Still yes. And are we glad we did tasting notes in the middle of lunch so we could write a review? You know it.

One thing I absolutely love to do when shopping for wine is checking out a store's clearance bin. When you'd think a clearance bin would be just for poor wine, we've had some surprising finds, including many bottles from many famous producers marked down because wine staff thought “they were getting old.”

This is how we found a bottle of Robert Mondavi Chardonnay 2018 for about $10 off list price, and snatched it up right away.

A seven year old California Chardonnay at a much more appropriate price point? Well, we are in, and took that discount in a heartbeat thank you very much.

Although most everyone knows Champagne for its delightful sparkling wine, many other regions around the world make equally delicious bottles in the same method.

In South Africa, these wines are called Cap Classique, and some producers make bottles that could easily rival their French counterparts. Graham Beck's Blanc de Blanc made entirely out of Chardonnay is one such bottle, and was one we were quite glad to try.

The Champagne region is full of many famous producers whose names we easily recognize, but never have tried before.

After staring at Moet & Chandon's Imperial Brut at the store for many years, we decided that it was time to finally try this famous wine. After trying this, we do have to admit, we can see why it is popular- although we wish the flavors were as intense as the aromas!

One of our fears with California Chardonnay is that they can often be quite oak and malolactic fermentation forward. While these have their place, we often find the intensity to be not for us.

But when we find one that has a prominent intensity that hits our tastes, we absolutely love it, and Lloyd Cellars Chardonnay from Carneros was one such bottle- oak and malo forward, but very well balanced and how we like it.

If there are elements of a white wine that we do not enjoy too much, it would be overuse of oak and/or malolactic fermentation to the point that it overshadows the flavors of the base wine.

A little? Great! A lot? We really aren't into it.

Meerlust's Chardonnay out of South Africa was one such bottle, and we honestly wish it was just a bit more restrained in the oak here. This one packs a punch!

We've read about Pol Roger Reserve Champagne for many years, and it is always one of those bottles we put off buying due to a slightly higher price point than we'd normally prefer.

When we finally decided to grab one of these, we wondered why it took us so long. Yes, the price can be fairly high, but it is also a rather delicious bottle of sparkling wine!

Ferrari is synonymous with traditional method sparkling wine in Trentodoc in northern Italy, and is one of those bottles you've likely seen in the store many times due to its wide distribution.

We have been getting more and more into Italian sparkling wine made in Champagne style and decided to pick this one up and enjoyed it for an all-around lovely bottle for flavor and price point!

When we normally think about rose wine, we often think of young, fresh bottles meant to be enjoyed shortly after bottling.

But Cavaliere Nero Rose Reserva is not your typical rose, and this sparkling bottle from Trentodoc is meant to have a bit of age. We were fortunate enough to try a sample bottle of the 2015 for this review, and at nine years old this rose still has a lot of life left in it!

I have to admit, my experience with Trentodoc sparkling wines has been fairly limited. My first time I think I ever had one was on my WSET Diploma D4 exam, and since then, well, that was it. Truly, it was a region of sparkling wines that I knew very little about!

So when I had the opportunity to try some sample bottles provided courtesy of Trentodoc, I was quite excited to learn more about their traditional method wines from the region.

Up first? Monfort's Le General Dallemagne Extra Brut from 2015. With 60 months of lees and a few more years of time in bottle on top, this was one stellar bottle!

Jacques Selosse Substance Champagne Review – Incredible

Robert Mondavi Chardonnay 2018 Review – Balanced With Age

Graham Beck Blanc de Blanc 2017 Review – Cap Classique

Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut Review – A Delicious Champagne

Lloyd Cellars Chardonnay 2023 Review – Balanced Oak and Malo

Meerlust 2021 Chardonnay Review – An Oak Heavy White

Pol Roger Reserve Brut NV Review – A Lot Going On

Ferrari Brut NV Review – A Classic Traditional Method

Revi Cavaliere Nero Rose Reserva 2015 Review – Aged Rose

Monfort Le General Dallemagne Extra Brut 2015 Review