Champagne and natural wine seem like opposites. One is the most industrial, manipulated category in fine wine — blended across years, dosed with sugar, filled with added yeast. The other is built on transparency and minimal intervention. Yet the two have always coexisted, in the work of a small number of growers who refused to follow the houses' methods.
Grower champagne — made by the person who grows the grapes, from their own land — is where natural wine principles found their way into Champagne. Anselme Selosse was the pivot: he brought Burgundian parcellaire thinking to a region built on blending, used barrel fermentation and oxidative élevage, and created a category that is now one of the most sought-after in wine.
This is our selection of the finest natural champagne from our list of the world's 100 best natural wines.
Jacques Selosse · Champagne · France · Champagne · Chardonnay
Substance is made in a solera system Anselme Selosse started in 1986, which means it contains wine from every vintage since. Chardonnay from Avize, barrel-fermented and oxidatively handled, gives a champagne closer to sherry in its complexity than to a traditional brut.
Jacques Selosse · Champagne · France · Champagne · Chardonnay
Selosse's entry-level champagne from Chardonnay grown in Avize, Cramant and Oger, though entry-level is misleading. Barrel-fermented, oxidative and textured — for many the best introduction to what grower champagne can be.
Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard · Celles-sur-Ource, Aube, Champagne · France · Champagne · Pinot Noir
One parcel, one variety, one vintage — Bouchard's principle in practice. Pinot Noir from Celles-sur-Ource with low dosage and a lightness entirely his own.
Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard · Celles-sur-Ource, Aube, Champagne · France · Champagne · Chardonnay
Marie-Noëlle Ledru · Ambonnay Grand Cru, Champagne · France · Champagne · Pinot Noir
Jérôme Prévost / La Closerie · Gueux, Montagne de Reims, Champagne · France · Champagne · Pinot Meunier, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay
Laherte Frères · Chavot, Coteaux Sud d'Épernay, Champagne · France · Champagne · Pinot Meunier
Jacques Lassaigne / Emmanuel Lassaigne · Montgueux, Aube, Champagne · France · Champagne · Chardonnay
Emmanuel Brochet · Villers-Aux-Noeuds, Montagne de Reims, Champagne · France · Champagne · Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay
Jacques Lassaigne / Emmanuel Lassaigne · Montgueux, Aube, Champagne · France · Champagne · Chardonnay
Emmanuel Brochet · Villers-Aux-Noeuds, Montagne de Reims, Champagne · France · Champagne · Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier