🍾 Bruno Paillard N.P.U. Nec Plus Ultra 2009

Bruno Paillard N.P.U. Nec Plus Ultra 2009 is the 2009 release of N.P.U. Nec Plus Ultra by the house Bruno Paillard, a vintage white Champagne in the Extra Brut style.

According to the house, the grapes come from six Grands Crus: Oger, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Chouilly, Verzenay, Mailly and Bouzy; 100 % of the wines were aged in oak; the wine aged 12 years on the lees; after disgorgement the bottles rest in the cellars for at least 18 months; the dosage is 4,5 g/l.

The house Bruno Paillard was founded in Reims in January 1981 by Bruno Paillard; since 1985 the disgorgement date has been printed on the back label, and all the house's Champagnes are Extra Brut.

The boundaries of the Champagne area were set by a law of 6 May 1919: parts of the Marne, Aube, Aisne, Haute-Marne and Seine-et-Marne departments. The designation’s specification allows seven grape varieties, dominated by Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier; grapes are picked as whole bunches, that is by hand, and the yield is limited to 10,400 kg per hectare.

According to the Comité Champagne, Champagne is served chilled to 8–10 °C, and bottles are kept in the dark at a steady 10–15 °C, without vibration. An opened bottle is best closed with a sparkling-wine stopper and kept cold.

It is sold under the protected designation of origin Champagne: the bubbles come only from a second fermentation in the bottle, and the wine is aged for at least 15 months before sale (36 for vintage). Extra Brut on the label is an EU sugar term: 0 to 6 g of sugar per litre.

Why it matters to you. According to the house, it comes in: a 0.75 l bottle and a 1.5 l magnum. The year on the label is the harvest year, so different years of the same line are different wines. The WHO reminds: there is no safe level of alcohol.