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.