Why it matters
The producer
Bruno Paillard had worked as a Champagne broker since 1975 when he sold his Jaguar to fund the house in his late twenties. The house was the first new Champagne house established in the region in nearly a century. It remains one of the few entirely independent Champagne houses.
In 1985, he created the Perpetual Reserve, a solera style system in which reserve wines from earlier years are blended into later wines. The reserve wines are stored in tanks and small oak barrels, with the sequence reaching back to its first year. Reserve wines make up close to 50% of multi vintage blends.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
The house is headquartered in Reims, where Bruno Paillard was born in 1953. His family had been growers and brokers in the Grand Cru villages of Bouzy and Verzenay since 1704. In Champagne, Grand Cru is a village classification, so Bouzy and Verzenay identify classified village origins rather than individual vineyard parcels.
Wines to know
The range in view
Première Cuvée Extra Brut is the non vintage cuvée. Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru is a Grand Cru cuvée. NPU 2008 is a vintage cuvée, composed of 50% Pinot Noir and 50% Chardonnay from seven Grand Cru villages.
The non vintage wine opens with white peaches, pear and subtle toast, then brings citrus, cherry and brioche, ending zesty and refined. The Grand Cru cuvée has a fine, mineral character. The vintage wine spends 10 years on lees and 2 years after disgorgement.