Champagne Demi Sec from Jean Vesselle is made from 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay, sourced from about 30-40-year-old vines. The wine primarily comes from a younger vintage, blended with 10% older wines that the company keeps in its cellars. The wine is bottle-fermented for 2½-3 years and is “dosed” with 35 g of sugar/liter (a classic Brut Champagne is dosed with between 5 to 15 g of sugar/liter).
Despite its high fruit sweetness, Champagne Demi Sec also has a good structure and freshness. In the aroma, there are notes of dried figs, apricots, and honey that harmonize well with hints of toasted bread. On the palate, one can sense Vesselle’s classic, delicate, and subtle character, which provides a good counterbalance to the sweet style. It is a classic sweet Champagne for, for example, receptions or for a not overly sweet dessert, such as fruit salad, fruit tart, or sorbet.
In relation to the several million bottles produced annually by large champagne houses, Jean Vesselle’s annual production of about 100,000 bottles can be considered modest. A little can, as they say, be very good, and among champagne connoisseurs, the family business Jean Vesselle is regarded as one of the most skilled “Récoltants-manipulants,” a producer who vinifies the grapes he grows himself and does not simply sell them to a larger company.
Located in the town of Bouzy, which is especially known for the high quality of the Pinot Noir grape, Jean Vesselle was primarily known until the early 20th century for producing excellent red wines from Pinot Noir, while the other grapes, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier, were sold to large producers.
Like many other producers in Champagne, Vesselle experienced that all the vineyards that had not been destroyed by the phylloxera pest at the end of the 19th century were instead wiped out by the fighting of World War I on-site. Therefore, all vineyards were rebuilt in 1921, but the economic situation made it impossible to sell the grapes, so Jean Vesselle’s grandfather began making champagne himself. Jean Vesselle’s father continued the production of champagne but sold about 30-60% of the grapes, and it was only when Jean took over the company that it was decided to use the entire grape production himself, which has been done ever since.
Since Jean Vesselle’s death in the mid-1990s, his daughter Delphine and her husband David have been at the helm. With great skill, they have together developed Champagne Jean Vesselle, and their champagnes enjoy great prestige in broad circles and are simultaneously “value for money.” The company’s current 15 hectares of vineyards are exclusively planted with Pinot Noir (90%) and Chardonnay.
