Pierre Paillard 2014 “Les Mottelettes” Blanc de Blancs, Brut, Bouzy Grand Cru, Champagne, France
Pierre Paillard 2014 “Les Mottelettes” Blanc de Blancs, Brut, Bouzy Grand Cru, Champagne, France
Farming: Sustainable with organic practices
Winemaker/Chef du Cave: Antoine Paillard
Brothers Quentin and Antoine Paillard are 8th generation growers running Champagne Pierre Paillard in Bouzy. The Paillards have been crafting wine in the Grand Cru village of Bouzy for more than 200 years. They now tend 11 hectares of vineyards divided between Pinot Noir (70%) and Chardonnay (30%) and farmed sustainably. Most of the family’s vineyard has been propagated, via sélection massale, by taking cuttings from their old vines and with Pinot Noir Fin, traditionally planted in Bourgogne.
Grape Varieties: Chardonnay
Soil Type: 1.5 Acre vineyard of 'Les Mottelettes', planted to Chalky soils in 1961.
Vinification/Oak Usage: each plot is harvested and vinified separately in stainless steel vats. Fermentation is carried out at lower temperatures to retain the aromatics and the wines are kept in tank on their fine lees until the spring.
Pierre Paillard is a small grower‐producer of Champagnes located in the Grand Cru village of Bouzy. Since Antoine Paillard bought vineyards there in 1768, the Paillard family has been cultivating vines in this prestigious village, and today, Antoine and Quentin Paillard represent the eighth generation in the family and the fourth generation to produce, and bottle the wines under their family name.Bouzy is one of the 17 villages in the Champagne region that has been classified as Grand Cru, the highest classification that can be awarded. It is renowned for producing some of the finest Pinot Noir in all of Champagne as its situation on the south‐facing side of the Montagne de Reims is ideal for the difficult to ripen Pinot Noir grape.
The wines of Bouzy tend to be more rich and powerful with expressive noses, and as Antoine Paillard says, the challenge for them in Bouzy is not achieving ripeness as is the case in much of the Champagne region, but rather maintaining balance and freshness.The Paillard estate covers 11 hectares, all planted entirely in the Grand Cru of Bouzy. Unlike most others in this village, the Paillard vineyards are planted with 40% Chardonnay. They farm as organic as Mother Nature allows and never use herbicides in their vineyards. They firmly believe that the greatest wines are made in the vineyard and rigorous work is done here to ensure grapes that have the maximum ripeness possible, while maintain good balance and acidity.
For the vinification, each plot is harvested and vinified separately in stainless steel vats. Fermentation is carried out at lower temperatures to retain the aromatics and the wines are kept in tank on their fine lees until the spring. Then starts a long process of tasting and blending. This is a unique moment shared only by the winemakers of the House (Benoît, Antoine and Quentin). Each plot is tasted, marked and commented upon until each person has a perfect feel for the profile of the year. Tests and blind tastings continue until the final choice: The creation of each cuvée. In June they are put into bottle for the second fermentation and kept in their 19th century cellars for a minimum of 3 years and as much as 10 years before being disgorged.
