Monthly Archives: November 2018

I love it when someone reaches back into history for inspiration, and resurrects a wine or spirit that has been “lost” for years. A while back I wrote about how Robert Cooper of Charles Jacquin et Cie reintroduced Crème Yvette, and I’m proud to say that my article about some sparkling red Gevery-Chambertin, made in the style of a long-forgotten Burgundian AOC, won me a Millésima Blog Award.

So it was with no small measure of delight that I sat down, with my cohost Liz Barrett, to interview Champagne maker Delphine Vesselle of Champagne Jean Vesselle. First, she produces Grower Champagne, which means that she makes Champagne from grapes grown in her own vineyards. Most Champagne labels, including almost all the famous ones like Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot and Krug, blend grapes from across the region to make their sparkling wines. Vesselle has full control of her grapes, from spring pruning through to harvest, pressing and fermentation.

Second, Vesselle produces a now-unusual style of Champagne called Oeil de Perdrix. Once common in and around the Pinot Noir-rich town of Bouzy, home to Champagne Jean Vesselle, Oeil de Perdrix translates as “eye of a partridge,” the color of which this amber Champagne apparently resembles. What makes Oeil de Perdrix different from a standard rosé is that the latter results from purposeful skin contact at the time of pressing in the winery. Oeil de Perdrix happens more en route from the vineyard. Bouzy’s warmer sites can really ripen Pinot Noir, and if the grapes are ripe enough when picked, they gently press themselves and start to macerate before they even make it to the winery. Hence the orangey tinge that’s not quite a rosé.

Early in the 20th century, big Champagne houses decided they wanted Champagne that was either rosé or not, not something in between, and so Oeil de Perdrix fell out of favor. It was Delphine Vesselle’s father who resurrected the style, as she relates in the interview. And my word, it is absolutely delicious.

You can watch our interview with the charming and very funny Delphine Vesselle here, filmed at the headquarters of Chicago importer and distributor H2Vino:

And to learn more about Grower Champagne, check out my articles about it here and here. If you want to impress a wine lover this season, Grower Champagne is a perfect gift!

Move over, Google Maps. Yes, you got me through my Croatian road trip, but another app has stolen my heart. I discovered Wine Game when I checked into this year’s Wine Bloggers Conference. My cursory glance at the promotional materials on the sign-in table turned to keen interest when I saw the words “blind tasting” and “game.” Blind tasting is one of my favorite challenges, so much so that my friend Liz and I started a web series about it.

Fortunately, Wine Game investor Dorian Patchin was also attending the conference. We took time to film a quick round of Wine Game with him, in order to learn about the app and show off our blind-tasting talents (I’m afraid I accomplished the former goal more so than the latter.) He selected two bottles for us to try, and my goodness, he did seem to enjoy it when we struggled. But in spite of the struggles, or perhaps because of them, we had a sensational time playing Wine Game.

The app is free, so it’s a great way to organize a blind-tasting party with your friends. Who doesn’t love a good drinking game? And for you Luddites without smart phones, you can use a web-based version as well. Here’s how it works!

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