There are conflicting reports as to how and where Œil de Pedrix originated, with both France and Switzerland vying for the claim. In the French version, it was created in the Champagne region of France in the Middle Ages, prior to the invention of the famous sparkling wine that is now its namesake. Most red wine grapes produce white juice; it is the skin of the grape that gives red wine its ruby hue. In an effort to compete with the rich, full red wines of Burgundy, winemakers in Champagne threw all their efforts into creating a fuller bodied white wine. But they couldn’t figure out how to prevent the white juice from having brief contact with the red skins. As a result, all their attempts at making white wine from red grapes resulted in very pale wines ranging in color from vin gris (gray), to a slightly darkened white, to the most common shade—a light pink, referred to as Œil de Perdrix.

Later, Benedictine monk Dom Pérignon perfected the method of creating white wine from red grapes that would end up being an important factor in the success of sparkling Champagne. This rare Champagne rosé is "making a comeback" as the popularity of rosé increases year after year.