To learn what the value of labour and the taste of good work are, nothing is better than a visit at a wine grower’s. And to learn more about the precision of the tastes, aromas and flavours, what better place than the Paul Bara Champagne? Here the sixth generation in the person of Chantale unfolds with talent the art of blending Champagne from which result cuvées praised all over the world for the acuteness of their aromas.
The domain is settled on the best terroirs of Bouzy classified 100% Grand Cru since 1833. Chantale cultivates two noble grape varieties of Champagne, the Pinot Noir and the Chardonnay. The excellence of their lands was worth the Paul Bara Champagne to be regularly approached for a long time by the biggest houses willing to acquire them.
But this heritage makes the strength of the family, just as much as their ancestral know-how in blending. Because it is the brand image that Chantale managed to give to her Champagnes. Although the vineyard is worked with the greatest respect for the environment, the wine making undertaken without any compromise to quality, the ageing carefully supervised, it is in the secret of the cellars dug 11 meters underground that all the subtlety of the blending of villages, grape varieties, years and reserve wines takes place. Her father Paul had already been distinguished among the best wine growers of Bouzy, but Chantale gave an extra touch of soul and a greater aromatic distinction to the wines of the family.
Since Chantale has taken over the estate, the house favoured the promotion and the marketing of its wines abroad. From this perspective, the Paul Bara Champagne opened its doors on last October to Best Sommelier of the World 2013 Paolo Basso.
A beautiful tasting of the best cuvees was offered to him, with the cuvees Champagne Paul Bara Brut 2009, Grand Rosé Brut, Réserve Brute, Spécial Club Rosé 2012, Spécial Club 2005, Annonciade 2004 and Champagne Comtesse Marie de France. The family even made him the honour of a 1959, a vintage that was once awarded best Blanc de Noirs. Paolo Basso could also appreciate the red Paul Bara Bouzy wine, the second string in Chantale’s bow. This red wine contributed to the fame of the house.
Sylvia van der Velden
Spécial Club 2005
Complex nose with yeasty, smoky, citrussy, tropical fruit, spice aromas, very pleasant. Rich palate, fat, complex. A voluminous and velvety mid-palate, with a great structure. Long finish, expressive and vibrant, still with a great acidity.
Annonciade 2004 (1 300 bouteilles, 1ère année de commercialisation)
Nice complexity, evolved, biscuits, old wood, almost caramel. Fresh, tense, brandied pears, rich and peppery, voluminous. Very tasty and persistent finish. A beautiful wine that gets out of the house’s style and that joins it only in the finish with the typical acidity of the wines without malolactic fermentation which is emphasized.
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