Bruno Paillard Brut Premiere Cuvee NV Champagne 75cl

Bruno Paillard History

In 1981, entrepreneurial 27-year old Bruno Paillard – a descendant of a family of brokers and growers whose lineage dates back to 1704 – sold his beloved Jaguar and started a Champagne house; the first in nearly a century. In a narrative normally reserved for Hollywood movies, Bruno’s story is equally remarkable as it is uplifting and inspiring. After following in the family footsteps and working as a broker for 6 years, young Bruno felt the overwhelming desire to create his own Champagne, one that would go beyond what was available in terms of purity and elegance.

In 1983, after a reclusive 3 years working like an alchemist in a rented cellar, Bruno finally reached the style of his dreams and created his first Champagne using carefully selected grapes from independent growers. Not content with an already astonishing achievement, Bruno then invented the first “ground-level” cellar – then unheard of in the region – which allowed him complete control of temperature, lighting and humidity. Soon after, the press took note and began ordaining him one of the best Champagne producers in the region.

Not stopping there, Bruno built the current winery in 1990 and began purchasing vineyards in 1994. The house now owns 33 hectares across 16 villages (almost half of which are rated Grand Cru and located in the best viticulture areas in the region – astounding considering fewer than 10% of Champagne’s vineyards are classified Grand Cru), which supply 65% of production needs – amounting to an annual production of around 500,000 bottles. These vineyards are farmed organically and each harvest in done by hand according to the particularities of each parcel; a rigorous undertaking given the vineyards are subdivided into 40 different parcels.

The house continues to produce multi-vintage and vintage Champagnes in accordance with Bruno’s strong commitment to quality: each Cru is vinified separately, only first press juice is used, wines are aged for 3-5 times longer than the minimum required and consistently low dosages are added to maintain purity. Bruno Paillard also pioneered the display of disgorgements dates on the back label of bottles (first doing so in 1983), a quality step now being replicated by other houses.

A quite sensational tale of an astute businessman chasing a dream. In just three decades, Bruno Paillard has transformed his eponymous establishment into one of the most prestigious houses in Champagne. Today, he co-manages the firm with daughter, Alice Paillard.