NV Champagne Dehours & Fils Extra Brut Œil de Perdrix

Vinous 95 points. "The NV Extra Brut Oeil de Perdrix is a stellar wine, quintessential Dehours. This release is 74% Meunier, 15% Chardonnay and 11% a perpetual reserve that goes back to 1989. Rich yet light on its feet, the Oeil de Perdrix is spellbinding in its beauty. Kirsch, rose petals, white flowers, mint, white pepper and crushed rocks are some of the many notes that grace this exquisite, ethereal Champagne. What an absolute joy it is. No dosage. Disgorged: September, 2022.” Reviewed 12/12/2023

Wine Advocate WA 92. "Based on the 2020 vintage, complemented by some 11% reserve wines drawn from a perpetual reserve dating back to 1998, and disgorged in September 2022, Dehours's NV Extra-Brut Oeil de Perdrix offers up inviting aromas of pear, sweet red berries, verbena, honey and licorice. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and ample, with a pillowy mousse and supple, charming profile, it's a lovely Champagne.” - Reviewed 12/14/2023

Wine Spectator WS 93. "A rich Champagne defined by well-honed acidity, with pastry cream and marzipan notes underscoring flavors of baked blackberry and black cherry fruit, crystallized honey, lemon preserves and toast. Meunier and Chardonnay. Disgorged January 2022. Drink now through 2028. 80 cases imported.” - Reviewed 06/03/2024

Champagne Dehours & Fils is a grower estate based in the Vallée de Flagot, a lesser-known sector on the southern side of the Marne River, where Jérôme Dehours farms 14.5 hectares spread across 42 parcels in and around Mareuil-le-Port, Oeuilly, Cerseuil, and Troissy. Founded in 1930 by Jérôme’s grandfather Ludovic and later developed by his father Robert, the domaine has been shaped by Jérôme’s determination to reclaim independence after his father’s sudden death in 1987 led the family into a restrictive financial partnership. After nearly a decade of selling fruit and gradually reinvesting, Jérôme regained full control of the estate in the mid-1990s and has since reduced reliance on négociants. The vineyards sit on clay-rich soils over limestone marne, geologically distinct from the chalk-dominated zones of the Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims, and contribute to the wines’ structural depth. In the cellar, Dehours works with three Coquard presses to vinify parcels separately, ferments non-vintage wines in tank and single-vineyard bottlings in barrel, and has gradually reconsidered his long-standing avoidance of malolactic fermentation in pursuit of balance and precision.