Reims, March 2022
In its dazzling bottle and packaging, Solium, Tsarine’s new champagne, bears a name that is evocative of the sun and soil of Champagne. Only wines from Premier Cru villages go into blending Solium champagne.
Blending the Solium cuvée
Isabelle Tellier, Chef de Cave and creator of the cuvée, has blended 72% Chardonnay and 28% Pinot Noir still wines to make Tsarine Solium.
“- The Chardonnays come from villages in the Côte des Blancs like Chouilly, Avize, and Vertus and in the Montagne de Reims, such as Villers-Marmery and Verzenay. The soil gives the Chardonnay wines from the Côte des Blancs mineral and floral traits, along with liveliness and delicacy. The more chalky soil of the Montagne de Reims gives the wine more roundness.
“The Pinots Noirs come from villages in the Vallée de la Marne such as Hautvillers, and in the Montagne de Reims, including Ay and Ecueil. They give Solium its structure.
I’ve let Solium age for four years in our cellars in Reims; that’s how long it takes to properly age a Premier Cru. I also chose to use slow fermentation, which preserves the identity of the grapes. Solium is a champagne with a sugar dosage of only 5 g, which lets the flavors develop fully.”
The pleasure is immediate and generous
The pale-gold color of this champagne highlights its lacy, fine bubbles.
The nose is elegant and fresh, opening with lovely notes of yellow summer fruits like nectarine and peach. Then it evolves into more voluptuous notes of pastry, hazelnut and raisin — flavors that emerge after several years of cellar ageing.
The lively, precise palate charms the senses with its concentration and silky texture, accompanied by flavors of lime set off by a floral touch.The finish is long and harmonious, revealing the minerality of this cuvée.
For Isabelle Tellier, “Solium is synonymous with pleasure, and many gourmet food pairings are possible. Solium accompanies fish nicely — a sole meunière or a monkfish with citrus fruits —, but also meat, for example a veal filet mignon with cherry plums or a lemon chicken. It brings out the flavor of cheeses like Comté. On the dessert side, Solium marries well with an apricot tart or lemon meringue pie. You could almost say that Solium goes with everything!”
The ideal tasting temperature for Solium champagne from Tsarine is between 10° and 12°C.
Tsarine Solium on display
Beginning 30 March, Tsarine Solium is being featured on displays in France’s largest cities, throughout the country, on the premium urban furniture operated by JC Decaux.
The nationwide launch campaign spotlights the new Tsarine cuvée with graphics that exalt the sun, the soil and the terroir of Champagne.
You can see the Tsarine Solium display campaign in Aix-en-Provence, Bordeaux, Cannes, Clermont-Ferrand, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Metz, Montpellier, Nantes, Nice, Reims, Rouen, Strasbourg and Toulouse, as well as in Paris and its suburbs.
