Paul Clouet

Editorial profile

Champagne Paul Clouet is a Bouzy producer with a distinct identity inside the wider Bonnaire-Clouet family structure. The house was founded in 1907 by the grandfather of Marie-Thérèse Bonnaire, who now oversees the marque with her sons Jean-Étienne and Jean-Emmanuel.

Paul Clouet remains based at 1 place André Tritant, Bouzy, while Champagne Bonnaire is based separately in Cramant. The two businesses share family and operational connections, but they are not interchangeable consumer-facing producers and should remain separate.

Why this producer matters

Paul Clouet is a useful example of how family structures in Champagne can connect two marques without erasing their identities. The Bonnaire side is centred on Cramant and Chardonnay; Paul Clouet remains the Bouzy-facing marque, with Pinot Noir and Blanc de Noirs providing the clearest current point of distinction.

The small current portfolio also makes precision especially important.

Bouzy focus

The current Paul Clouet presentation is deliberately compact. The clearest Champagne release is Bouzy Vintage 2016 Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs: 100% Pinot Noir from Bouzy Grand Cru, vinified in temperature-controlled stainless steel with malolactic fermentation, with a minimum of eight years on lees and a current dosage of 2.5 g/L Extra Brut.

Sélection Grande Réserve is the non-vintage entry point. The producer gives 50% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and 20% Meunier, sourced from Bouzy Grand Cru together with Bergères-les-Vertus, Cuis Premier Cru and Fossoy. It is vinified in temperature-controlled stainless steel and undergoes malolactic fermentation, with a stated minimum of 30 months on lees.

There is a live first-party dosage inconsistency for Sélection Grande Réserve: one technical page displays 7 g/L Brut, while the shop displays 4 g/L Extra Brut for what appears to be the same named product. The exact release therefore controls.

Champagne.co analysis

Paul Clouet is best understood as a small Bouzy-facing family marque rather than a miniature version of Champagne Bonnaire. Its current range is unusually concise, which makes the relationship between the bottles easy to read: Grande Réserve provides the blended multi-origin entry point, Bouzy Vintage narrows the focus to Grand Cru Pinot Noir and time, and Bouzy Rouge removes the second fermentation entirely.

The dosage conflict on Grande Réserve is also a reminder that even producer-controlled pages can fall out of sync. Bottle-level data should win over a desire to publish one neat permanent number.

Buying guidance

Start with Sélection Grande Réserve for the broadest current introduction, but check the exact bottle or technical sheet for dosage. Choose Bouzy Vintage 2016 when the interest is mature Grand Cru Pinot Noir and a specific vintage.

Bouzy Rouge 2018 is for readers who want the still-wine side of Bouzy; it should be bought as Coteaux Champenois rather than compared directly with the sparkling Champagnes.