Wines
Summary
The JM Seleque domaine began in 1965, when Jean-Marc’s grandfather started planting vines with the help from his father-in-law (then the president of the Pierry co-op). Jean-Marc’s father Richard joined the domain in 1974 after acquiring a degree in enology, and he updated the winery and incorporated better vineyard practices.
After interning in California and Australia at industrial scaled sparkling wineries, Jean-Marc returned to the domaine in 2008 with a clear vision of what he wanted (and didn't want to do). From his experience in the USA and Australia he learned that "wine corrections"in the winery weren't the right approach he wanted to take. Instead he put a majority of his focus on farming his vineyards to show their true expressions. He made major changes such as plowing of rows by tractor or horse; controlling yields by careful pruning. In 2010, he started working biodynamically. He also halted his father’s practice of selling some grapes to négociants, and he began to acquire more oak vessels for fermentation and ageing on the lees.
Vinification methods changed as well, with slower and gentle fermentations, lowering the temperature and working with indigenous yeasts. The wines also have extended aging on the lees for all the cuvées, both in barrel or tank and then in bottle for the secondary fermentation. The wines are not fined and very minimally filtered for only certain large lots, and he lowered the level of dosage which are detailed on Jean-Marc’s back labels.
The ratio of stainless steel to oak barrels in the cellar is roughly 60/40. For some parcels, he uses 20-hectoliter foudres, and Jean Marc is also experimenting with amphora, and concrete egg vessels. The domain has 22 acres of vines spread about 45 parcels in 7 different villages. The average vine age is 40 years with a majority of the vines grown in the communes of Pierry and Moussy, with smaller plots in Boursault, Epernay, Mardeuil, Dizy, and Vertus. The majority of vines he tends are Chardonnay and Pinot Meniuer, with a very small amount of Pinot Noir.