Recently, TY graced Cambridge with her presence, however fleetingly. This was cause for celebration. Particularly (at TY’s request) cheese toasties. I suggested fizz to go along with them. This was rated as a satisfactory suggestion. So, I took myself down to one of the Cambridge Wine Merchants’ branches, and perused their selection of bubbly. And perused. And perused. I couldn’t decide. Finally, one of the staff came over and enquired: ‘Greater Senses, are you going to stand there all day, just staring, or are you going to actually buy something?’ (NB: They didn’t really say that, but it makes for a better story.) So, they suggested the Pierre Paillard, which is what I went with. I haven’t had it before, so figured it was worth a shot.
In the glass
Very pretty. Peach, I’d call it. A nice mousses, and fine, persistent bubbles. Lots of bubbles that just hang around, doing bubble-stuff.
The nose
I think raspberry, perhaps. TY, who issues a disclaimer that she has a stuffy nose, goes with either ‘honey, blossom, floral,’ or ‘lovely, blossom, floral,’ because I can’t read my own handwriting. She also suggests peach, which I had been wondering at, but hadn’t actually mentioned.
The palate
Lovely, nice acidity. Long finish. Crisp. It has a bit of heft to it, which is nice It isn’t some lightweight fizz afraid of its own shadow. Just before TY went and looked it up on Vivino, I had in my notes that it must be predominantly Pinot noir. It’s not – it’s most Chardonnay. Shows you what I know.
Anyway, my tasting notes also say ‘mention bubbles’ or something similar. My handwriting was extra bad when I took these notes. Let that be some kind of lesson. Anyway, consider bubbles mentioned.
It’s complex, it’s very yummy, it’s substantial. Stands up well to food. We had it with cheese toasties (posh ones at that), and it worked very well.
Rating
Very pretty on visuals, Yummy-double-plus-good overall. If it wasn’t so, well, Champagne-priced, I’d drink quite a bit more of it.
Sustainability
Organic, sustainable, low intervention.
The technical info
12.5% ABV, 65% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir, with a bit of Bouzy Rouge. (Yeah, that adds up to more than 100%. But that is what I can find online, and I already recycled the bottle.) £40.00, Cambridge Wine Merchants, sadly not available online.