HUE, VALENTINE!
It’s been a long time, we shouldn’t have left you/without a strong wine to fête to.
It’s no longer February and so apologies are in order. First to Erik B & Rakim, for the above travesty of a classic, and more importantly to you, member, for the arrival of these latest selections. Champagne being a bi-monthly club, we generally endeavor to uncork new bubbles at the start of each eligible period, so you can pair occasion and effervescence as necessary.
This is especially urgent during the shortest, coldest, and most officially amorous month of the year. However you mark February 14th on your mental calendar - heart, X, exclamation point, $ - Valentine’s Day and Rosé Champagne have been partners in romance longer than any LLC now invested in their coupling. Amongst the holiday’s many generally faithless sales pitches, this relationship seems like the relative real thing, in other words: Built to last and worthy of celebration.
So, sorry once again that we missed that connection this year. Please accept these two lovely bottles of pink bubbles by way of contrition - a gesture the sincerity of which is we hope not diminished by the fact that one of them is only barely a rose, and not at all a full bottle.
Indeed, we’ve had the full rose bottle featured here, Lancelot-Perceval’s La Dame du Lac, in mind since early December, when we tried it and were promptly blown away. An unusual blend (83% Chardonnay, 17% Meunier) produced via a specific and labor-intensive process by a family with deep roots in the region, it is precise and complex with a cumulative lushness that belies its initial delicacy. It’s also really great with food.
The problem, as it turns out, has been pairing it with another wine; quality and cost both dictated that any similar bottles would suffer by comparison. So rather than settle for a safe and boring suitor, we’ve chosen a companion just as interesting and accomplished: Jean Vesselle’s inimitable and spectacular L’Oeil de Perdrix cuvee, albeit in half bottle form. It’s a little smaller, but we think you’ll agree these two make an ideal couple.
Cheers!
The PlumpJack Family
Jean Vesselle L’Oeil de Perdrix Brut |
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From: Bouzy, Champagne |
About the Winery: 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. Wines here combine a classic Champagne elegance with the signature Bouzy power, especially in wines such as the estate’s ‘Oeil de Perdrix.’ This unique rosé is a taste of Champagne history, a style of wine long forgotten before winemaker Delphine Vesselle brought it back with great success. When Delpine’s great grandfather Fulgence Vesselle and his neighbors started making their own Champagne around 1900 (having sold their grapes before), they slightly over-pressed and ended up with a wine that was neither all white nor full pink - in fact, the pale orange pink of a partridge’s eye or Oeil de Perdrix. The style faded from view around mid-century, but in 1972 Fulgence's grandson, Jean Vesselle, discovered a few bottles of the old wine hidden in a wall. He was astounded by the color, freshness, and lovely aromas of this old-style wine and, beginning a few years later, launched his own interpretation of Oeil de Perdrix. Vinification: Average age of vines is 15-30 years. As is law in Champagne, everything is hand-harvested. Grapes are macerated briefly (less than 24 hours) for color then pressed. Fermented on indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks. Aged for three years in bottle. Aged exclusively in stainless steel 100% Pinot Noir Dosage: 6 g/L Tasting notes: Aromas of red roses, orange zest, white pepper, light herbs. Medium-bodied yet light on the tongue; elegant, silky and balanced. Red berries, stone fruits, peppery finish. |
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Winemaker: Delphine and David Vesselle |
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Price per bottle / Price per case: $36.99 375ml bottle/ $ 399.50 case |
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Suggested Food Pairing: smoked salmon, duck, charcuterie, lightly spiced Asian cuisine. |
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Lancelot-Perceval La Dame Du Lac Extra Brut Rosé |
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From: Cramant, Cotes du Blancs, Champagne |
About the Winery: Founded over 120 years ago, the Lancelot Pienne Champagne house has been crafting cuvées for generations that authentically and elegantly express the richness of the Champagne terroir. Drawing on his experience at various houses, winemaker Jean-Baptiste Lancelot decided at the end of World War II to produce his own cuvées. A few years later, following the union of his son Albert with Brigitte Pienne, the Lancelot Pienne house was born. Albert’s son Giles joined his father making wine in 1995 and, together with the latter’s wife Céline Perceval, focused on continuous improvement, both in the precision of their wines and in their deep respect for the raw material: the grape. After several years working both locally with his father and around the world, Giles’s son Julien officially joined Lacelot-Pienne in 2022. By then, the rosé cuvée he first made two years earlier proved successful enough to be marketed as La Dame du Lac, playing off the King Arthur reference and honoring his mother. In 2023 father and son embarked on aging the La Dame du Lac and a part of the Marie Lancelot cuvées under cork rather than under the customary crown cap. This is a more expensive method of aging that promotes additional evolution and complexity in the wine. It’s also much more labor intensive: every bottle must be checked at disgorgement for TCA. Vinification: Red wine made exclusively from Meunier grapes, vinified in stainless steel tanks.Punching down for 6 days followed by pumping over for 2 days. Chardonnay vinified in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks.Vinification by plot. Partial malolactic fermentation. Meunier comes from the Monthelon terroir, Lieu-dit: Malfois, planted in 1962. Chardonnay on the terroirs of Cramant, Bisseuil, Monthelon from vines with an average age of 55 years. Disgorgement takes place 4 months before release. 83% Chardonnay, 17% Pinot Meunier Dosage: 1.75g/l Tasting notes: Deep color, delicate bubbles, and powerful yet ethereal fruitiness, revealing aromas of red cherries and currants mingled with cardamom and eucalyptus. The palate charms with its delicate effervescence, power, and a lingering, beautifully supple finish. |
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Winemaker: Gilles & Julien Lancelot |
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Price per bottle / Price per case: $95.99/bottle $1036.70/case Suggested Food Pairing: Mature Camembert or Époisses Cheese. Tuna Tartar, Crudo Light Asian-inspired dishes and white meats. |
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