Bruno Paillard

History

Bruno Paillard was born in Reims in 1953. The house says his ancestors were brokers and growers in Bouzy and Verzenay from 1704.¹ He worked as a wine broker from 1975 and founded his own house in January 1981, at the age of 27.¹

In 1985 he began a perpetual reserve, a blend of reserve wines renewed with each harvest (see reserve wine).^1,2 The house also says that from 1985 it printed the month and year of disgorgement on the back label of every bottle, and was the only producer to do so for more than 20 years.¹ See disgorgement.

Other milestones given by the house: an above-ground experimental cellar in 1984, a new cellar designed with the architect Jacques Bléhaut in 1990, and the first vineyard purchase in 1994, 3 ha of grand cru in Oger.¹ Alice Paillard joined her father in January 2007 and has run the house since 2018, with Bruno Paillard as president.¹

Vineyards

The house gives a little over 25 ha in 18 crus, split into 89 plots. It says it uses no herbicides or pesticides and holds the HVE label.⁵ The UMC profile gives 25 ha.³ See Oger.