Winegrowers’ portraits Bouzy
Champagne Paul Bara
The Rosé cuvées, a speciality at Bouzy
The Bara family, a wine-growing tradition
at Bouzy. Since 1860, six generations of Baras have worked this excellent Grand Cru terroir
in the heart of the Montagne de Reims.
Chantale Bara dans sa Cave aux trésors.
In the 50s Paul Bara was the first of the dynasty to commercialise Champagne under his own name. Also an amateur historian, he wrote a book retracing the life of his village, Bouzy, its people, their wines and their cultivation methods. His daughter, Chantale, took over from him in the 80s and continues the family tradition of excellence. She is a partner of the
Trésors de la Champagne Club and has commenced major work in the fermenting room in order to gain space and improve the precision of the vinification process.
As early as 1782, Bouzy wine was present in the cellar book of the
Château de Versailles. Grown on the magnificent south-facing slopes of the Montagne de Reims, this red wine was full-bodied and rich in flavour. As a centre of Pinot Noir cultivation in Champagne, this Grand Cru is now much sought after by the big Champagne Houses to lend structure to their Cuvée Prestige blends. Some have constituted a starter, or a solid base, buying fields to be sure of their supply.
Nevertheless, the wine-growers at Bouzy still cultivate two thirds of the planted area, about 382 hectares. The Bara family works 11 hectares on the village uplands and also has a plot at Ambonnay. The vineyard has an average age of 35 years and is cultivated with sustainable methods, with ploughing, cover cropping, use of inter-vine hoes and ride-on mowers. The pathways and headlands are trimmed by hand. The grapes are picked and sorted manually, then pressed in a wooden winepress with old-style
retrousses* in order to extract only the heart of the cuvee, or on a more modern press with sloping plates. The wine is matured in small-capacity, thermoregulated enamel or stainless steel tanks.
“To be even more precise and more in tune with the taste of the times, early in 2014 the roof of the vinification building in the yard will be raised to accommodate 100-hectolitre tanks and small separation tanks of 40 and 60 hectos. This work will take my vat-room capacity to 2,500 hectos. This work will cost me a million euro.” Like her father, Chantale Bara is a local figure and forges ahead. For four years she was president of the
Trésors de Champagne Club, an association of famous wine-growers who are passionate about terroir, elaborate champagnes exclusively from their vines and conduct the full vinification process. In the best years, each member elaborates a
Spécial Club vintage in a prestige
Club bottle that must represent the quintessence of the domain and which is available only in limited quantities. Membership of this club is a guarantee of quality. Champagne Paul Bara's Rosé Millésimé 2006 is its Cuvée Spécial Club.
This wine-grower specialises in blending rosé wine. Paul Bara is the largest producer of Bouzy Champagne Rosé and has built its excellent reputation on vintage wines and rosé. Its
Grand Rosé, NV, is elaborated with a blend of 80% Pinot Noir, 12% of which is Bouzy red, and 20% Chardonnay, but also 50% wines of the year and as much again of reserve wines, in order to ensure a consistent taste that is appreciated by customers. Known as the
Champagne des Dames, its fruity bouquet is a favourite with ladies. Chantale Bara likes the ritual of the blending, mixing plots and varietals, wines of the year and reserve wines, and, to sublimate her wines, she imposes aging in hundred-year-old cellars eleven metres under the ground, three years for classic cuvees, and a minimum of six years for vintage wines.
As her father, Paul Bara, wrote: “A great wine reflects the man, his efforts and the succession of generations. Let us pay homage to the wine-growers who, for centuries, cleared, ploughed and enriched this vine that they cherished and pampered in these cellars they built and laid out with their own hands”!
*A system whereby less well crushed grapes are returned to the centre of the press to be pressed again.
Marie-Caroline Bourrellis
les trésors de la cave, une cuve enterrée. Champagne Bara
4, rue Yvonnet - 51150 Bouzy - France
Tél. : +33 (0) 3 26 57 00 50www.champagnepaulbara.com
