Pinot Noir led Grand Cru Champagne from Verzy, on the Montagne de Reims, made by the Deville family since 1968 and aged long on lees.
Verzy is a Grand Cru village on the Montagne de Reims, the wooded massif between Reims and Épernay. Pinot Noir is the main grape on its slopes, which sit on chalk.
The family farms 17 ha across 14 crus, all Grand Cru. Every bunch is picked by hand and pressed gently as whole bunches, taking only the best juice. First fermentation is in steel vats.
Most cuvées are Pinot Noir led, with Chardonnay in support; the 2012 Millésime reverses the balance. Quinte Essences is the outlier, a blend of five varieties including the rare Arbanne and Petit Meslier.
Champagne Jean-Paul Deville is a family house in Verzy, five generations of growers handed from father to daughter. Jean-Paul Deville now works with his daughter Marie-Alice, an oenologist.
The house ages its non-vintage cuvées in the cellar for four years on average, against a legal minimum of 15 months, and rests bottles about six months after disgorgement before release.