Seleque

In Pierry, a village with ‘Premier Cru’ status in the Côte du Sud d’Épernay region (Champagne), situated south of Épernay, lies the small family-run estate of J.M. Sélèque, which has earned a solid reputation among connoisseurs of champagne from producer-winemakers. The driving force behind the estate is Jean-Marc Sélèque, a third-generation representative, and music plays a central role in its identity: the seven villages with which it collaborates symbolise the seven notes of the musical scale.

History

Henri Sélèque arrived in France from his native Poland in 1925 and settled near Épernay. In the 1960s, he planted vineyards in Mussy and Pierry, and in 1969 he bottled his first wines. His son Richard, an oenologist, expanded and refined the estate. Jean-Marc, Richard’s son, returned in 2008 at the age of 20 after completing internships at Maison Chandon in the Yarra Valley and the Napa Valley. In 2015, he and his wife Oriane opened a new purpose-built winery in Pierry.

Vineyards

The estate covers 9 hectares, comprising 45 plots across seven villages: Pierry, Moussy, Épernay, Mardeuil, Dizy, Bourceau and Vertus. The average age of the vines is 40 years, with the majority being mass-selected. The estate is managed according to biodynamic principles: horses are used for ploughing, cover crops and herbal preparations are employed, and yield is strictly controlled.

Grape varieties

50% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Meunier and 10% Pinot Noir.

Winemaking

Each plot is vinified separately using indigenous yeasts and a gravity-fed process in the new cellar. Large barrels are used for gentle oxidation. Dosage is kept to a very low level. In the Solistes range, no fining or filtration is carried out on single-vineyard wines.

Wines

The range includes Solessence, a blend of grapes from seven villages, intended for everyday drinking. Above this in the range is the Partition line, which includes blends from different villages and vintage wines.

Solistes are single-vineyard, single-varietal, single-harvest wines, created to showcase the individual terroir with minimal intervention from the winemakers.