Oeil de perdrix

Oeil de Perdrix (œj də pɛʁdʁi) is a rosé wine produced in Switzerland. The history of the wine style dates back to the Middle Ages in the Champagne region of France and from there spread to the Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland where it would become a popular dry rosé made from pinot noir. The name œil de perdrix means "partridge's eye" in French, a reference to the pale pink colour of the eye of a partridge in death throes. Until about a century ago, it was common for vineyards to have the red and white grapes unseparated unlike today where each vineyard has a unique grape. This gave white wine, red wine, and what was called grey wine because the wine was neither white nor red. It is also an old name for very pale rosé wine made not by the saignée method, but by "pressurage direct", in which the juice of red grapes is drawn off and fermented with very little contact with the skins. With the modernization of viticulture and separation of grapes, the term Oeil de Perdrix disappeared in France, but remained in the Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. The Canton of Neuchâtel would export Oeil de Perdrix primarily to the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland, but also to other cantons, namely to the cantons of Geneva, Vaud, and Valais. After the Second World War, the latter decided to start producing their own Oeil de Perdrix. When the policy for wine of controlled origin (AOC) in Switzerland began, the Canton of Neuchâtel claimed the sole Oeil de Perdrix AOC, but it was refused; the cantons of Geneva, Vaud, Valais, and Neuchâtel all have the Oeil de Perdrix AOC today. The early origins of the American wine White Zinfandel can be traced to a California winemaker's attempt at making an Oeil de Perdrix–style wine. The Oeil de Perdrix style of wine is believed to have originated in the Middle Ages in Champagne region of France, prior to that region's development of the sparkling wine style that would take its name. During this period the Champenois were in competition with the Burgundy wine region for the favor of the Royal court and the lucrative Paris market.

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Related concepts (3)

Pressing (wine)

In winemaking, pressing is the process where juice is extracted from the grapes with the aid of a wine-press, by hand, or even by the weight of the grape berries and clusters. Historically, intact grape clusters were trodden by feet but in most wineries today the grapes are sent through a crusher/destemmer, which removes the individual grape berries from the stems and breaks the skins, releasing some juice, prior to being pressed.

White wine

White wine is a wine that is fermented without skin contact. The colour can be straw-yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-gold. It is produced by the alcoholic fermentation of the non-coloured pulp of grapes, which may have a skin of any colour. White wine has existed for at least 4,000 years. The wide variety of white wines comes from the large number of varieties, methods of winemaking, and ratios of residual sugar. White wine is mainly from "white" grapes, which are green or yellow in colour, such as the Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc and Riesling.

Rosé

A rosé (ʁoze) is a type of wine that incorporates some of the color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the skin contact method. The pink color can range from a pale "onionskin" orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on the grape varieties used and winemaking techniques. Usually, the wine is labelled rosé in French, Portuguese, and English-speaking countries, rosado in Spanish, or rosato in Italian.