Pierre Paillard Coteaux Champenois Bouzy Rouge Les Mignottes 2022
Pierre Paillard Coteaux Champenois Bouzy Rouge Les Mignottes 2022 – alternate view 2
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Pierre Paillard Coteaux Champenois Bouzy Rouge Les Mignottes 2022

Pierre Menard
$88.00 $90.00

Grape: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2022
Type: Red

This rare still red wine is a pure varietal bottling of pinot noir produced within the Grand Cru village of Bouzy. The Paillard family sources the fruit from old vines planted in the 1970s on heavy clay-limestone soils. The grapes undergo a spontaneous native yeast fermentation inside neutral tanks, utilizing a gentle manual punch-down routine to prioritize elegant infusions. The liquid undergoes a natural maturation process, aging for twelve months in seasoned French oak barrels before an unfiltered bottling.

It displays a jeweled ruby color, releasing aromas of fresh cherry, dark cocoa, red plums, and sweet woodsmoke. A medium-bodied frame is juicy and balancing crunchy red fruit with a fine-grained tannin grip. Savory undertones of damp earth and baking spices add depth across the fluid mouthfeel without feeling heavy. A clean wave of limestone acidity cuts through the center, maintaining great freshness.

Winery

Pierre Paillard is a family grower in Bouzy, on the southern side of Champagne’s Montagne de Reims. The vineyard history reaches back to 1768, while Pierre established the modern business in 1946. Brothers Antoine and Quentin Paillard now represent the eighth generation of the family to grow vines here. Pinot Noir is central to Bouzy, but Chardonnay also has a significant place in the estate, giving the range more than one expression of the village’s chalk-rich slopes.

The brothers emphasize careful soil management and the differences between parcels, with their own selected planting material contributing to the continuity of the vineyards. Patient fermentation and aging allow those differences to develop before release. The Champagne range includes broad introductions such as Les Parcelles alongside more specific vineyard and village bottlings. Les Mignottes Bouzy Rouge offers another perspective: a still Pinot Noir under the Coteaux Champenois appellation. It shows the importance of the underlying wine and the vineyard itself, connecting the family’s sparkling production to a long tradition of still red wine in Bouzy.