Jean Vesselle Oeil de Perdrix Brut Blanc de Noirs Champagne

In modern Champagne, any color that might bleed from the skins into the juice is usually filtered out, so the wine is clear. In this traditional style, Delphine Vesselle allows the ripe Pinot Noir grapes from her vineyards in Bouzy to bleed color from their skins, and doesn’t filter it out, hoping to preserve what she describes as the soul of Pinot Noir. Everyone on our panel was struck by this wine’s beauty, as its delicate touch seemed to connect with every scent and taste receptor at once. Auction-consultant Craig Ganzer commented on that complexity: “I just kept taking notes,” he said. The pink color and the range of green herbs in the scent seem to resonate through the wine, taking its radish-like tension and formal structure in an understated direction. (12/2019)

The NV Brut Oeil de Perdrix is floral, resonant and super-expressive, the Oeil de Perdrix has so much to offer. The interplay of aromatic top notes and Bouzy richness makes for a compelling, open-knit Champagne that is an absolutely joy to taste. This is such a gorgeous and totally distinctive Champagne. I would prefer to give it at least a few more months in bottle, as it is a bit tight today, especially on the finish. Disgorged: April 15, 2019. (AG) (12/2019)

The latest rendition of Vesselle's NV Brut Oeil de Perdrix is excellent, displaying a beautiful hue that lives up to its name and equally appealing aromas of minty red apples, mandarin and dried white flowers. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, with a youthfully frothy mousse, ripe acids and an enveloping but racy profile, concluding with a saline finish. (WK) (4/2019)

Domaine Jean Vesselle crafts what the French call “grower” Champagne; they are a récoltant-manipulant house, meaning they grow their own grapes and makes their own wine, entirely on site, bringing the ultimate in Champagne flavor and character to every bottle. From the importer: "For nearly 300 years, the Vesselle family has been tilling the chalky soils of Bouzy and cultivating some of the village’s best-placed Pinot Noir vines. The family’s collection of top terroirs and generations of leadership in championing Pinot Noir is what makes wines from Domaine Jean Vesselle such eloquent examples of Blanc de Noirs Champagnes. Wines here combine a classic Champagne elegance with the signature Bouzy power, especially in wines such as ‘Oeil de Perdrix.’ This unique rose de saignée is a taste of Champagne history, a style of wine long forgotten before winemakers Delphine and David Vesselle—to honor the traditions of their Champagne-making forefathers—brought it back with great success. The family owns one of Champagne’s smallest walled vineyards, the ‘Petit Clos.’ Located just outside the Vesselle home in Bouzy, ‘Petit Clos’ is the pinnacle of the powerful yet elegant Bouzy style, pure grand cru Pinot Noir fermented in barrels made from oak trees from the Champagne region, and aged for a decade in bottle."