Champagne JM Sélèque - Ratafia Champenois
Champagne JM Sélèque is located in Pierry, between the Marne Valley and the Côte des Blancs in Champagne . The estate was created in the 1960s by Henri Sélèque, originally from Poland, and his wife Françoise Bagnost. He planted vines on the terroirs of Moussy and Pierry and marketed his first bottles in 1969. The arrival of Richard, their son, at the estate marked an important step: a graduate in oenology, he helped to modernize practices and refine winemaking and aging methods. At the same time, they purchased and planted new plots in Dizy and Mardeuil (Marne Valley) and Vertus (Côte des Blancs). Richard's son, Jean-Marc, graduated in viti-oenology and initially trained abroad for Maison Chandon (Napa Valley, Yarra Valley, etc.). He returned to the family estate in 2008 with a solid technical background. During these experiments, he became aware of the technological limits of wine, which consisted of standardizing tastes and textures with numerous corrections in the cellar. He then decided to register his work in an artisanal vision , in search of authenticity and a fair and natural expression of the terroirs. The 9 hectares of the estate are spread over 45 plots and 7 communes. Jean-Marc moved towards an organic farming approach , without seeking to go as far as certification in order to avoid confining himself to any dogmatic framework and to maintain a real freedom to experiment, supplemented from 2010 by practices inspired by biodynamics. He established meticulous work in the vineyard, healthy and perfectly ripe grapes, no vinification artifice and even fewer oenological inputs, the least possible sulfur, a long aging time on slats and an extremely limited use of dosage.
This Ratafia Champenois is a blend of Chardonnay (50%), Meunier (40%) and Pinot Noir (10%) grape must fortified with pure alcohol (94.5%) from the Marne region. It is aged in 600-litre oak barrels and contains 130 g/L of residual sugar.
" Velvety and sunny, this ratafia reveals aromas of candied fruit, honey, quince paste, and sweet spices. A charming Champagne liqueur, to be enjoyed chilled at the end of a meal."
