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
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Jeb Dunnuck
The NV Champagne Solessence Extra Brut has a bright straw hue and comes from the 2022 base (which was a very good harvest for this estate) while 50% of the blend is perpetual reserve that goes back to 2004. The wine is elegant and approachable in this release, opening with notes of wet stones, orchard fruit, grapefruit, and savory, salty earth. It’s medium-bodied on the palate, with a delicately fruity and rounded mouthfeel, accompanied by a refreshing and even mousse. It has a bold character, with some freshness as well as a delicate toasty smokiness, but it’s not overbearing. The mousse is creamy, and it has a refreshing, clean feel.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Wine Spectator
Sleek and finely meshed, this vibrant Champagne offers well-honed acidity that defines fla- vors of grainy pear, blood orange granita, golden raisin, Marcona almond and grated ginger, ending with a chalky finish. Chardonnay, Meunier and Pinot Noir.
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.
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.’