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Maurice Vesselle, Bouzy Grand Cru, Brut Millésime

Champagne, France 2004 (750mL)
$75.00
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Maurice Vesselle, Bouzy Grand Cru, Brut Millésime

Out of Champagne’s 17 Grand Cru villages, Bouzy—a half hour drive south of Reims—is one of the most celebrated for its deeply concentrated and muscular Champagnes. This area is coveted Pinot Noir territory and Bouzy surrounds itself with only the finest company. Ambonnay is a mile east, Tours-sur-Marne lies directly to the south, and Äy is just west of that.
If you’re a winemaker looking to create world class Champagne, having vineyards in one of these villages is a great place to start. Today’s 2004 is equal parts Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and is 100% Grand Cru, coming from (mostly) Bouzy and Tours-sur-Marne. This is a Champagne with immense density and focus that underwent a whopping 11 years of aging on its lees, a length typically reserved for the most prestigious têtes de cuvée. Maurice Vesselle’s vintage wines are brought to the states in miniscule quantities and we were only able to procure a small batch thanks to a close relationship with one of our importers. You’d be hard-pressed to find this on an American retail shelf, but we’ve got enough to share up to 6 bottles per customer today. It is special stuff, so don’t miss it!
The Vesselles have a family tree that branches out in all directions in Champagne. They’ve had a presence here for hundreds of years and have split off into several factions, each one trying their hand in winemaking (you may be most familiar with grower-producer Jean Vesselle). Today, fifth-generation brothers Didier and Thierry Vesselle run Champagne Maurice Vesselle, founded in 1955 by their father. Despite modernization, the brothers have maintained their father’s traditional vineyard practices, which seems to be the direction Champagne as a whole is heading toward. In a magazine interview, Didier explained the growing trend: “Yesterday we were called old-fashioned, today we're avant-garde!”

All grapes for this vintage-designated cuvée were hand-harvested into 40-pound crates from their estate-owned vineyards in Bouzy and Tours-sur-Marne. The vines here are mostly south-facing and are mostly planted in clay and limestone soils. In the winery, each parcel of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay were vinified separately in stainless steel tanks. After the 50/50 blend was bottled the following year, the second in-bottle fermentation was triggered in their ancient chalk cellars. While their vintage Champagne typically ages eight years sur latte, this particular batch has seen three additional years. After disgorgement in May of 2016, a healthy nine grams of sugar was added, lending further breadth to an already-concentrated wine. 

In the glass, 2004 gracefully shows its age with a concentrated golden core leading out to light straw hues on the rim. Tiny bubbles are packed tight and gradually rise upward to a fine mousse. On the nose, you’ll find yourself immersed in deep-fruited notes of red and yellow apple, bruised pear, red currant, and apricot (the 2004 vintage produced abundant amounts of ripe fruit). Complex secondary notes follow with white mushroom, dates, yellow flowers, honey and gingerbread. The palate reveals a full-bodied Champagne with a rich core of fruit and savory notes. Being recently disgorged, this shows taut freshness and precision without being fatigued by oxidation, leading me to believe this easily has another decade of life ahead of it. Consume this around 60 degrees in all-purpose white stems (avoid traditional flutes!) and really try stretching out the bottle over the course of two hours; its evolution will impress you. A light seafood with a bit of richness is the ideal match for this wine. Try the attached recipe—easy to make, easy to please. Enjoy!
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Country
France
Region
Champagne
Sub-Region
FranceBouzy Grand Cru — Montagne de Reims
Soil
Limestone & Clay
Farming
Sustainable
Blend
Pinot Noir 50%, Chardonnay 50%
Alcohol
12.5
TEMP.
50
Glassware
All-Purpose Whites
Drinking
Now-2025
Pairing
Pistachio-Crusted Scallops

France

Bourgogne

Beaujolais

Enjoying the greatest wines of Beaujolais starts, as it usually does, with the lay of the land. In Beaujolais, 10 localities have been given their own AOC (Appellation of Controlled Origin) designation. They are: Saint Amour; Juliénas; Chénas; Moulin-à Vent; Fleurie; Chiroubles; Morgon; Régnié; Côte de Brouilly; and Brouilly.

Southwestern France

Bordeaux

Bordeaux surrounds two rivers, the Dordogne and Garonne, which intersect north of the city of Bordeaux to form the Gironde Estuary, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is at the 45th parallel (California’s Napa Valley is at the38th), with a mild, Atlantic-influenced climate enabling the maturation of late-ripening varieties.

Central France

Loire Valley

The Loire is France’s longest river (634 miles), originating in the southerly Cévennes Mountains, flowing north towards Paris, then curving westward and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantes. The Loire and its tributaries cover a huge swath of central France, with most of the wine appellations on an east-west stretch at47 degrees north (the same latitude as Burgundy).

Northeastern France

Alsace

Alsace, in Northeastern France, is one of the most geologically diverse wine regions in the world, with vineyards running from the foothills of theVosges Mountains down to the Rhine River Valley below.

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