**If interested, I’ve posted more pics of this visit and trip on my Instagram account - check me out @sips_ensemble**
We also had the pleasure to visit Champagne Paul Bara, another family-owned and -managed winery with only 8 employees! 💪 💪
It is a small but high-quality operation, producing approximately 100,000 bottles per year made exclusively from the free run juice. ✨✨✨ Thanks to the likes of @kermitlynchwine , the U.S. is a major exporting market for this wine. 🙌🙌
Paul Bara’s wines are sustainably farmed on numerous vineyard plots located throughout Bouzy, a Grand Cru village within the Montagne de Reims region of Champagne. 🏔 🏔
Bouzy is known especially for its Pinot Noir-driven Champagnes and also for its still red wines, a specialty of the region, called Coteaux Champenois. 🍇🍇
Paul Bara uses mostly stainless steel vessels for its vinification, designed to accentuate the purity of the fruit. They also use subterranean concrete vessels for the Pinot Noir used in rosé blends and for the Coteaux Champenois (still reds). 🥂
On our tour it was fascinating to see bottles being disgorged, dosaged, corked, capped, and caged on a machine in seconds — these are some of the last stages of the Méthode Champenoise. 🤓
We also learned that Paul Bara is a member of the ‘Club Trésors de Champagne’ an association of 28 vignerons formed to promote quality wine growing and winemaking practices and to highlight the beauty of terroir, demonstrating the excellence achievable outside of the major houses whose names are globally renown such as Veuve Cliquot and Moët & Chandon. 👏
Our favorite wine of the tasting was the 2010 Brut Comtesse Marie de France 🇫🇷 made exclusively from Pinot Noir grapes 🍇 It had a richness and abundance of orchard fruit, including baked yellow apple, also toast, bread dough, yeast, and dried white blossom notes, still offering finesse and precision, retaining incredible vibrancy.
We are grateful for our visit to Paul Bara and we look forward to visiting again the future! 🙏❤️ — 3 years ago
Game night dinner at Jane M. This from RP whose Cliquot had oxidized. Good balance and went well with soup and chicken. — 6 years ago
Picked up during our visit to Veuve Cliquot. Haven’t seen this cuvée in the states before.
4th edition with vintages 1996, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014.
If tasted blind, I think I would have called this 2006 or 2007 champagne. It has a warm and generous profile showing only a hint of age. Golden in the glass. Quite yeasty and toasted pastry driven up front alongside lemon cream and hazelnuts. Towards the end, a bit of grilled lemon and tangerine showed. While not overly complex or layered, this is an easy and enjoyable champagne with a tasty profile that doesn’t require any aging. — a year ago
Subtle hint of petrol, which some people dig, but to me seems a little out of place in a Champagne. Nevertheless, it’s cheaper than Veuve Cliquot and knocks the socks off most Proseccos. Ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby. — 5 years ago
I am a fan of this NV champagne. Because it is still family owned, this is highly recommended instead of NV Moet or Cliquot. It also out performs those wines while remaining in the same price point. Buttery & hazelnut on the nose with complex notes of brioche & pear on the palette with enjoyable acidity. Drink now or hold for a couple years. Great QPR! — 5 years ago
Rated so high b/c we love it not only on its merits of taste, but in a personal level having stars at the AirBnB on-site and having met the owners. Competes w/ high end ‘well known’ brands. Fun fact: a percentage of Phillips Doury’s grapes are sold to Veuve Cliquot!! — 2 years ago
Terroir bubbles party I threw, second tasting with mom! Lovely, but not Cliquot! — 4 years ago
Champagne wines that were blended for greater sweetness were described as “rich". Clicquot collaborated with mixologists to select the perfect ingredients to naturally enhance the wines’ flavors, while adding a unique twist. Add ice, an ingredient like a twist of orange, and add Cliquot Rich! Rich gets a boost with a higher dosage (60g/l sugar). Straight up aromas of expressive fresh fruits, with crisp flavors of stone and berry fruits vivid acidity on lingering finish. Interesting almost a Demi-Sec, try a mimosa! — 5 years ago
🥂뵈브 클리코 옐로 라벨 NV @채스154, 그리고 언니 신혼집. 재즈바에서 두 잔 정도 얻어 마신 문제의 샴페인... 그런데 기포가 꽤 지속적으로 올라오고 특히 초반의 뽀글뽀글함이 넘 멋졌다. 맛은 산미가 강한 편이었는데, 거품과 함께하니 무척 기분이 좋아졌고 한참 뒤 거품이 꺼진 뒤 그냥은 마실 맛이 안 났다. 샴페인 엔트리 모델 중 으뜸이라는 데 과연 그렇군 싶었던... Veuve Cliquot Yellow Label NV — 5 years ago
Elizabeth Vecseri
Floral notes with a sparkling electric touch on the lips and tongue. Almost like a Veuve Cliquot bubbly in wine form. Light mineral flavor. Very bright and almost sweet tart green apple. — 7 months ago