J-M Seleque Solessence Extra Brut

Non-Vintage Sparkling Wine from Champagne, France

92 Wine
Enthusiast
92 Robert
Parker
92 Jeb
Dunnuck
91 Wine
Spectator
91 James
Suckling

4.1 Very Good (5)

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J-M Seleque Solessence Extra Brut Front Bottle Shot

J-M Seleque Solessence Extra Brut Front Label

Product Details

Varietal

Non-Vintage Sparkling Wine

Region

Champagne, France

Producer

Champagne J-M Seleque

Size

750ML

ABV

12.5%

Your Rating

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Somm Note

Winemaker Notes

This wine has an unusually fine mousse and terrific elegance, fruit and stony salinity. This is Sélèque’s flagship wine, representing nearly half of the total house production; it also roughly mirrors the house plantations, originating in all seven communes where Jean-Marc grows vines. A blend of 50% Chardonnay, 40% Meunier and 10% Pinot Noir, sourced from the domaine’s younger vines, which average 40 years of age (that, it must be said, would constitute the old vine selection for most Champagne properties!) Half the blend is reserve wine, which is a perpetual reserve aged in barrel. The base wine is made predominately in steel; aged on its lees for 20 months.

Professional Ratings

92 Wine Enthusiast
The main non-vintage cuvée from this young producer who is based just south of Épernay is dry in the house style, giving the tense and finely structured fruit plenty of space to speak. This is a tightly wrought Champagne but one with such great white- and citrus-fruit flavors that it is ready to drink.
92 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Based on the 2018 vintage and disgorged in November 2020 with two grams per liter dosage, Sélèque's latest NV Extra Brut Solessence is showing very well, bursting with aromas of white flowers, pear, crisp stone fruits and almond paste. Medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, it's lively and saline, with a pillowy mousse and chalky grip on the finish.
92 Jeb Dunnuck
Pouring a straw color with a light copper tinge, the NV Champagne Solessence Extra Brut is based on the 2020 vintage and is composed of 50% Chardonnay, 40% Meunier, and the rest Pinot Noir. Expressive on opening, it’s fresh with aromas of fresh rain, dewy pear, tangerine peel, apricot, and fresh flowers. Medium-bodied on the palate, with a delicate mousse, it’s a juicy and inviting, lovely entry from Seleque, with classic notes of bread dough and fresh citrus pith all the way through the finish. A very pretty wine, it has a lot of appeal and can be enjoyed over the next several years.
91 Wine Spectator
Kumquat, golden raisin and black currant flavors are layered with firm acidity and a soft, creamy mousse in this lightly toasty Champagne, with a nut-tinged finish. Disgorged October 2018. Drink now through 2022.
91 James Suckling
Fruity and fragrant on the nose, with notes of orange zest, pear skins, apples and hazelnuts. Medium-bodied, juicy and very drinkable, with lemony acidity and a creamy mousse. 50% chardonnay, 40% meunier and 10% pinot noir, of which 50% reserve wines. Disgorged December 2022. 2g/L dosage.

Champagne J-M Seleque

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Jean-Marc Sélèque returned to Pierry in 2008 after internships at Chandon’s facilities in Napa Valley and in Australia’s Yarra Valley with a vision of what he wanted to do - and didn’t want to do - at Champagne JM Sélèque. The positive ideas were simple, but labor intensive: in the vines, shallow plowing of rows by horse or tractor for weed control; reducing yields by careful pruning; organic and biodynamic applications to boost the health of soil and vine. In the cellar, he moved to much slower and more gentle fermentations, something he considers key for flavor and texture. He did this by lowering the temperature and working more with wild yeast (a lot of his fermentations are wild, but he’s not orthodox about that). He instituted longer ageing on the lees for all the cuvées, both in barrel or tank and subsequently in bottle for the secondary fermentation (that bottling is now done at the end of July following the harvest, which is a long and relaxed élevage, allowing a young wine to come together). He did away with fining, and gradually did away with filtration (completely stopping in 2015 when his new cellar gave him the measure of control he needed). Finally, because his farming reforms resulted in better maturity in his grapes, he lowered the level of sugar in the final dosage. The dosage and other specifics are admirably detailed on Jean-Marc’s back labels. The domaine began in 1965, when Jean-Marc’s grandfather started planting vines with the aid of his father-in-law (then the president of the Pierry co-op). Subsequently Jean-Marc’s father joined the domaine in 1974 after acquiring a degree in enology, and he did much to update the winery and augment its vineyard holdings. When Jean-Marc came on board in 2008, he turned the domaine toward the organic viticulture he envisioned. In 2010, he started working biodynamically, and now all of his parcels are farmed organically and receive some biodynamic preparations, a fact that he doesn’t make much fuss about because for him it’s not about the label so much as it is about making better wine. Today the ratio of oak to steel in the cellar is roughly 60/40, with the steel tanks being used primarily for the younger, fruitier Solessence and Solessence Rosé. He is, however, moving more toward oak every vintage. Since 2015, he’s been selling off his 228-liter barrels of late in favor of 350 and 600-liter barrels for fermentation and barrel aging. The domaine has 22 acres of vines which grow in 45 parcels and lie across 7 different villages. The average vine age is a notable 40 years of age (positively wizened by Champagne standards!). Most of the vines grow in the communes of Pierry and then Moussy, followed by Epernay, Mardeuil, Dizy, Vertus, and Boursault. Some 50% of the vines are Chardonnay; 40% are Pinot Meunier; and 10% are Pinot Noir. Total annual production is around 5,500 cases.

Non-Vintage

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A term typically reserved for Champagne and Sparkling Wines, non-vintage or simply “NV” on a label indicates a blend of finished wines from different vintages (years of harvest). To make non-vintage Champagne, typically the current year’s harvest (in other words, the current vintage) forms the base of the blend. Finished wines from previous years, called “vins de reserve” are blended in at approximately 10-50% of the total volume in order to achieve the flavor, complexity, body and acidity for the desired house style. A tiny proportion of Champagnes are made from a single vintage.

There are also some very large production still wines that may not claim one particular vintage. This would be at the discretion of the winemaker’s goals for character of the final wine.

Champagne Wine

France

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Associated with luxury, celebration, and romance, the region, Champagne, is home to the world’s most prized sparkling wine. In order to bear the label, ‘Champagne’, a sparkling wine must originate from this northeastern region of France—called Champagne—and adhere to strict quality standards. Made up of the three towns Reims, Épernay, and Aÿ, it was here that the traditional method of sparkling wine production was both invented and perfected, birthing a winemaking technique as well as a flavor profile that is now emulated worldwide.

Well-drained, limestone and chalky soil defines much of the region, which lend a mineral component to its wines. Champagne’s cold, continental climate promotes ample acidity in its grapes but weather differences from year to year can create significant variation between vintages. While vintage Champagnes are produced in exceptional years, non-vintage cuvées are produced annually from a blend of several years in order to produce Champagnes that maintain a consistent house style.

With nearly negligible exceptions, . These can be blended together or bottled as individual varietal Champagnes, depending on the final style of wine desired. Chardonnay, the only white variety, contributes freshness, elegance, lively acidity and notes of citrus, orchard fruit and white flowers. Pinot Noir and its relative Pinot Meunier, provide the backbone to many blends, adding structure, body and supple red fruit flavors. Wines with a large proportion of Pinot Meunier will be ready to drink earlier, while Pinot Noir contributes to longevity. Whether it is white or rosé, most Champagne is made from a blend of red and white grapes—and uniquely, rosé is often produce by blending together red and white wine. A Champagne made exclusively from Chardonnay will be labeled as ‘blanc de blancs,’ while ones comprised of only red grapes are called ‘blanc de noirs.’

DBWDB7313_NV_0 Item# 786337