This cuvée is a perennial favorite – It’s refined, ebullient, and balanced
Disclosure: This wine was provided to me as a media sample. I received no compensation for this post, and all opinions presented are my own.
This wine is a blend of exclusively first pressing – the purest juice – Pinot Noir (45%), Chardonnay (33%) and Pinot Meunier (22%), part of which (20%) was in barrel for the first fermentation. The fruit is from 30 crus, each vinified separately. It’s also a blend of 25 vintages, since 1985; which compose up to 50% of the final blend.
My tasting notes follow:
Golden straw color with pastry dough, Meyer lemon zest, white flowers, pear, red fruit, almond and a hint of oyster shells. The palate approaches medium-bodied, and is refined, ebullient, and balanced with a creamy delicate mousse and racy, lemony acidity. Initially flavors of pear, quince, and Meyer lemon gives way to raspberry, cherry, toasted almond, ginger and a bit of honey flavors with a long citrus and chalk driven finish. 12% abv Disgorged September 2017
Outstanding – 91pts| SRP – $50| This cuvée is a perennial favorite – It’s refined, ebullient, and balanced
The wine is a great example why champagne being so versatile at the table. It was divine paired with Lobster Ravioli. I especially appreciated the “weight” of this cuvée, which contributed to it pairing so well the richness of the Lobster Ravioli.
About Champagne Bruno Paillard
Bruno Paillard’s family lineage of brokers and growers in the two Grand Cru villages of Bouzy and Verzenay dates back to 1704. Following in their footsteps, Bruno began as a broker in 1975. He acquired a deep and extensive knowledge of the region and its wines. In 1981, at the age of 27, he started his own Champagne house – the first new maison in nearly a century. After renting a cellar for three years and purchasing carefully selected grapes from independent growers, Bruno released his first champagnes. He then built his own cellar, allowing him total control over temperature, lighting and humidity. In 1990 Bruno built his current winery, and in 1994 began purchasing vineyards.
Champagne Bruno Paillard’s vineyard cover 32 hectares (79.5 acres) of land over the best Crus of Champagne: Le Mesnil sur Oger, Oger, Cumières or Verzenay, for example. Les Riceys is the exception; situated in the south of Champagne, it is the undisputed flagship of the Aube. Altogether, their estate vineyard represent 100 plots, each with a different terroir.
Twelve hectares of the vineyards are classified as “Grand Cru” which is remarkable given that grands crus represent only 17 of the 320 villages of Champagne.
The fruit from these vineyards cover 50%-60% of his production needs. They are farmed organically and sustainably – a rigorous and delicate job given that his holdings are subdivided into 70 different parcels.
Bruno sources the remaining fruit through long-term contracts with high-quality, independent growers. Each wine is vinified separately in stainless steel (75%) and oak (25%). Although they are labeled as Brut, all of Paillard’s Champagnes are technically Extra Brut as their dosage is 6 grams or less per liter. Annual production is 450,000 – 500,000 bottles.
________________________________________________________________________
Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Vivino and for all things wine. As a wino with latent foodie tendencies, you’ll also find plenty of food and wine pairings, and wine related travel stuff! Become a fan and join ENOFYLZ Wine Blog on Facebook. Cheers!
Copyright Notice: This entire site is Copyrighted 2010-2018. All Rights Reserved. No unauthorized copying of any section of this site is permitted. If you wish to use any part of this site, contact me. For information on Copyright Law, see the official U.S. Copyright Office home page.