“We decided to produce less and make better wine, wine that has a stronger identity.”

History

Champagne Pierre Paillard traces its roots to the early 18th century, when the family settled in Bouzy. The Paillards’ story in wine began when Antoine Paillard acquired several parcels of vines in Bouzy, establishing the family’s legacy as viticulturists.

Terroir & Farming

05:54  Old massal selection vines

“With old missal selections, Pinor Noir clusters can fit in the palm of your hand, whereas most of the clonal selections yield fruit that’s bigger than the size of your hand. There’s a breaking point. If the yields are too high, you go into dilution of aromatics and acidity.”

09:56 Introducing Pinot Fin

“We decided to produce less and make better wine, wine that has a stronger identity.”

12:11 Advantages of high-density plantation

“I like to think of it as Pinot Noir in high-definition. Lower yields makes better concentration makes better aromatics, less dilution of the acidity. But on the other hand, you have to counter that powerful concentration with great minerality. And that’s what makes Bouzy so unique: we have chalk.

14:47 Bouzy Grand Cru identity

“Bouzy has a reputation of producing wines that are very powerful and vinous—it’s true—because we have a richer clay soil that is sometimes very deep. There is a strong fruit element in the wines of Bouzy.”

15:30 Organic certification

“Growing organic is very challenging. About every three or four years you lose between 30-50% of your crop… For us, growing organic is not necessarily a decision for making the best possible wine—it’s about making a conscious decision for our health, the health of the earth and the people who work with us.”

Winemaking

19:46 Oak and old-school techniques

“There are only a handful of wineries our size that put all of their cuvées—including the base cuvée, the non-vintage cuvée—through the same vinification, the same precisions of winemaking as the top cuvées.”

25:38 Dosage

“When you have dosage, it breaks the austerity that sometimes you get from some wines from Champagne that are very racy and sharp, even those that are made from ripe fruit.”

The Future

27:54 The culmination of decades of effort Vision and Grand Cru Terroir

“Champagne is a game of time… Everything we’ve done in the vineyard is starting to show.”

30:13 The dream: single-village Pinot Noir

“Champagne has built itself, at least since the ‘60s, on blending grapes together, whereas growers, I think we play a different card: we try to express wine from a singular place… When you just think about the experience of tasting the same varietal made from different terroirs, that’s when you understand that wine is truly special.”