Placeholder Image
SommSelect

Jean Vesselle, Grand Cru Bouzy, Coteaux Champenois

Other, France 2009 (750mL)
$55.00
/
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Your cart is empty.
  • In stock, ready to ship
  • Inventory on the way
Fruit
Earth
Body
Tannin
Acid
Alcohol
SommSelect

Jean Vesselle, Grand Cru Bouzy, Coteaux Champenois

Want in on a little-known wine secret? Not all Champagne is sparkling. In fact, Champagne’s esoteric ‘still’ wines have their own exclusive appellation: Coteaux Champenois. The major reasoning behind their relative anonymity is that they command premium pricing and only a fraction of their already microscopic production finds its way into America. Even people well-versed in Champagne probably only know (but still haven’t tasted) Coteaux Champenois from icons like Egly-Ouriet, Bérêche, and Bollinger—all of whom price theirs 2-3 times higher than Jean Vesselle. And quite frankly, I’d make a strong argument that today’s decade-old gem is fully worthy of joining that elite circle.
It’s Pinot Noir royalty that comes entirely from family-owned vines in Grand Cru Bouzy, a hallowed terroir that many believe yields the best Pinot Noir in all of Champagne. Further, Vesselle’s vineyards are predominantly south-facing and thus uniquely capable of ripening grapes to absolute perfection. Pinot Noir of this nature remains a genuinely unique experience, and not because of its novelty, either—many vignerons would be thrilled to produce such an ethereal, textured, and long-lived expression of Pinot Noir. We are the very first to get our hands on a batch of this limited 2009 Grand Cru release. Enjoy!
Anyone who loves great Champagne, and Pinot Noir, recognizes Bouzy as ground zero for the region’s most profound expressions of the variety, with a constellation of blue-chip producers that includes Pierre Paillard, Benoît Lahaye, and Paul Bara. The ‘Vesselle’ surname is attached to several different properties within Bouzy, which can get confusing, but proprietors Delphine and David Vesselle have distinguished themselves by, among other things, reviving the saignée style of rosé, producing a distinctively dark sparkler that is about as close to ‘Burgundy with bubbles’ as one could hope to get. The family’s 15 hectares of vineyards are planted to 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Chardonnay—a typical ratio in Bouzy—and Pinot Noir is the driving force in the family’s entire range of sparklers.

And then there’s the Bouzy Rouge, which, like all Bouzy Rouge, is bottled under the Côteaux Champenois designation. Like their fellow red wine enthusiasts in the village, Vesselle sets aside a minuscule portion of its harvest to make a wine which, to be honest, makes one wish they’d make more (and in a warming climate, they just might). The production for this 2009 is both straightforward and authentic: Following a manual harvest, the Pinot Noir undergoes a long, ambient-yeast fermentation in stainless steel before aging 12+ months in neutral French barrels. This parcel matured in Vesselle’s cellar until late 2019. 

Now with a decade of age, today’s 2009 Bouzy Rouge has developed savory secondaries but still vibrates with profound energy. For those who purchased the 2008 last year, today’s wine retains those beautiful notes of wild mushroom, black tea, and underbrush, but delivers far more in the departments of ripeness and polish. It erupts with rich notes of black raspberry, cranberry, pomegranate, and juicy red plums, along with rhubarb, licorice, soft exotic spices, violets, damp rose petal, crushed rock, and a hint of citrus peel. Although medium-bodied, it delivers a many-layered fusion of energetic fruit and ultra-savory minerality that results in a mouth-filling, mouth-watering experience. I suggest decanting for 30 minutes prior to pouring in large stems around 60 degrees and serving with a main course of roast chicken. To add to the excitement, invite some Francophiles over, serve it alongside some fine red Burgundy, and see if they can spot the difference. Enjoy!
Placeholder Image
Country
France
Region
Other
Sub-Region
FranceMontagne de Reims / Bouzy Grand Cru
Soil
Chalk, Clay
Farming
Sustainable (Sustainable Practices)
Blend
Pinot Noir 100%
Alcohol
12.5
OAK
Used French Barrels
TEMP.
60
Glassware
Burgundy Stems
Drinking
Now-2025+
Decanting
30 Minutes
Pairing
Baked Rosemary-Cranberry Chicken

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.

Others We Love