Description
Jean Vesselle, “L’Expression Nature”
Last year, Delphine Vesselle put on her alchemist hat and conjured up Champagne Jean Vesselle’s first-ever non-dosage bottling. The complete and utterly pure joy it brought us was further amplified by its staggering rarity: just 25 cases for America and 18 of them found their way into SommSelect headquarters—our small trove didn’t survive the night. Just weeks ago, we received a text from their importer hinting at a smaller, second disgorgement on the horizon. We practically waved the ship into port and unloaded it ourselves.
So today, you can once again be among the few in the world to enjoy a bottle of this outrageously expressive Champagne from a masterful blend of Grand Crus Bouzy and Chouilly, with a splash of superbly ripe fruit down in the Aube. Although it has no residual sugar, I’d struggle mightily to label this a Brut Nature in a blind tasting. It’s loaded to the brim with Vesselle’s signature broad texture, ample body, and generous fruit—and that makes us love it all the more.
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 brilliant 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 Delphine and David Vesselle have distinguished themselves by producing distinctive sparklers that are 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 ratio that mirrors Bouzy as a whole. Across the entire Vesselle lineup, Pinot Noir is the star. That said, tonight’s “L’Expression” does contain 20% Chardonnay.
What originally started out as a dosage (sugar addition) trial, in which six different bottles were dosed from 0 grams to 52 grams, the zero-sugar was the unanimous standout. So, Delphine decided to bottle a small portion for her top clients and that’s how 25 cases found their way to America. It’s an 80/20 blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from their Grand Cru sites in Bouzy and Chouilly, with a touch of family-owned fruit down in Loches-sur-Ource (in the Aube). The grapes naturally fermented in stainless steel before blending, bottling, and maturing on its fine lees. It was disgorged in January of 2020 without a single gram of sugar and then allowed to rest for 10 additional months before exiting their cellar.
Seeing as we’re in the middle of a non-dosage movement, a substantial number of “Brut Nature” bottlings can be abrasive, nerve-rattling laser beams with little-to-no regard for pleasure. Not Vesselle’s. Centuries of farming lush Pinot Noir in Grand Cru Bouzy has resulted in a wine bursting with absolute joy. The wine will melt away any stresses in your life and embrace your palate with some of the purest notes Champagne can offer. It’s both vinous and supremely elegant. Like a Burgundy from a classic vintage, it dazzles with powerful minerality and a bone-dry yet ripe, pleasantly fresh core of fruit. Green apple and red apple skin, Rainier cherry, red plum, citrus peel, acacia, chalk, crushed stones, oyster shell, lees, and a touch of dried herbs. It’s broadly textured and gushing with lively citrus and orchard fruits that meld right into a savory, mineral-flecked finish. If you enjoyed the first disgorgement, you simply must help yourself to this fresh batch. If you missed out, nows your chance to secure a flat-out delicious rarity for a steal!
