About
The signature cuvée of Paul Bara, one of Bouzy's rare récoltants-manipulants — growers who make Champagne only from their own grand cru fruit. 80% Pinot Noir with 20% Chardonnay off Bouzy's deep chalky subsoil, fermented in stainless steel with no malolactic conversion and aged on the lees. Light yellow-gold with a fine, abundant mousse: ripe fleshy fruit and Mirabelle plum open into spice, honey, bergamot and orange peel, with yellow peach and a subtle peppery note on a fresh, mineral palate.
The Bara family has been in Champagne since the 1600s. Vines came into the family in 1836, when Auguste François Bara married Annonciade Robert, and the house in Bouzy went up in 1860. Paul Bara was the first to sell under his own name, in the 1950s. By 1975 the house was among the first in Champagne exporting to the United States.
Today it farms 11 hectares across 33 parcels, every one of them grand cru. That is 9.5 hectares of Pinot Noir and 1.5 of Chardonnay, which is why this blend leans so hard on Pinot. The rows are cover-cropped with no chemical weedkillers or insecticides. Chantale Bara, Paul's daughter, is president.
The house pours it as an aperitif or with scallops and prawns. It is drinking now and will hold three to four years. Serve it well chilled in a wine glass rather than a flute.
Producer note
The Bara family grows and bottles everything themselves in Bouzy, the Montagne de Reims village famed for Pinot Noir — Paul Bara himself was the village historian.
Structure
Grape
Picked on Stef's structure profile.
