April 3rd: Champagne JM Sélèque with Jean-Marc Sélèque
At Vinonueva | 5145 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL, 33137 | 7:00 pm-8:30 pm
Click HERE to get tickets
In partnership with Florida Wine Company and Grand Cru Selections
We’re excited to welcome Jean-Marc Sélèque to the shop for a Walthrough Tasting. He is visiting us from the Côteaux Sud d’Épernay in Champagne. Jean-Marc is a third-generation grower, redefining his family’s domaine since returning in 2008. He works across a mosaic of parcels that span the region’s diverse soils, with a focus on balance and a pure expression of fruit and soil. The result is wines that are precise, vibrant, and deeply connected to place.
Photo: Jean-Marc Sélèque
BACKGROUND
Champagne JM Sélèque is rooted in the Côteaux Sud d’Épernay, a lesser-known but remarkably diverse area often overshadowed by the Marne Valley to the north and the Côte des Blancs to the southeast. Organized around the Cubry valley, this patchwork of slopes—stretching from the southern outskirts of Épernay to Grauves—brings together a wide range of exposures and soils, from chalk to clays, marls, sands, limestone, and flint. The result is a region capable of producing wines with texture and a clear mineral backbone, making it an increasingly compelling source of terroir-driven Champagnes. This geological diversity supports all three Champagne varieties, with Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir each finding their place.
At the heart of this region lies Pierry, just south of Épernay, where the Sélèque family is based. Beyond being their home village, Pierry holds an important place in Champagne’s history. As early as the late 17th century, Brother Jean Oudart—working alongside Dom Pérignon—helped refine the methods that would shape Champagne as we know it today. Its vineyards, entirely classified as Premier Cru, reflect both the historical importance of the village and the diversity of soils and exposures that define the area.
The roots of the domaine trace back to 1925, when Jean-Marc’s grandfather, Henri Sélèque, arrived from Poland and settled in nearby Boursault. Vines were planted in Pierry and Moussy in the 1960s, with the first bottles released in 1969. His son Richard Sélèque, an oenologist, built on this foundation—expanding vineyard holdings into villages such as Dizy, Mardeuil, and Vertus, and bringing greater precision and autonomy to both vineyard and cellar work.
Today, the estate has entered a new chapter under Jean-Marc Sélèque. After returning in 2008 alongside his wife, Oriane, he began to rethink the domaine's direction, focusing on site expression and balance. They now farm 10 hectares divided into 48 parcels across seven villages. This fragmentation is a mosaic of terroirs that allows for nuance, precision, and layered blending.
Jean-Marc’s time working in Napa Valley and Australia sharpened his technical understanding, but perhaps more importantly, clarified what he did not want. Moving away from overly corrective winemaking, he has committed to a more artisanal vision—one in which technology supports rather than defines the wine.
Jean Marc’s philosophy centers on allowing each parcel to speak clearly, with as little interference as possible. For him, ‘Champagne must be a vin de terroir, and that it is in the vineyard that a great Champagne is born.’ Farming has shifted toward organic and biodynamic principles, emphasizing careful soil management, gentle plowing, plant-based treatments, and strong yield control. Many of the vineyards are planted with massale selections, with an average vine age of over 40 years. While these methods consume a great deal of time and manpower, they alone allow the vines and grapes to express the energy and identity of the terroir and of the vintage.
In the cellar, this same mindset continues. Jean-Marc vinifies by parcel, working with a range of vessels—stainless steel, Burgundy barrels, concrete eggs, amphorae, and sandstone jars—selecting and often blending across formats depending on the needs of each grape, site, and vintage. Fermentations are slow and gentle, carried out with indigenous yeasts, and the natural balance of the fruit allows him to avoid systematic malolactic fermentation. Sulfur is used sparingly, with minimal or nonexistent dosage, and the wines spend extended time aging on lees. Since the inauguration of the new gravity-flow cellar in 2015, he has also eliminated fining and filtration, further refining a style defined by purity, precision, and textural depth.
The wines are not built around a fixed house style, but around balance and a clear expression of fruit and soil. Sélèque wines are vibrant and alive, with real density, texture, and suppleness, especially when Pinot Meunier dominates. They show freshness and chalky finesse when Chardonnay plays a larger role. Depending on the blend, the wines can lean more generous or more linear, but they consistently show depth, energy, and a defined mineral backbone. The finish is clean and persistent, shaped by a subtle saline and chalky edge that perfects the wine's balance.
Check out the lineup for this tasting:
- Solessence NV
- Quintette Chardonnay NV
- Partition 2019
- Soliste Chardonnay "Les Tartieres / Les Porgeons" 2020
Photo credits: Champagne JM Sélèque