This Champagne is produced from grand cru vineyards in exceptional years only. Rich fruits and layers of spice mingle with the toastiness of maturity in this equal blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The wine is now ready to drink.
96 points, Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast (Dec 2021)
Exclusively from Grand Cru grapes, the 2008 Champagne Grand Cru Nec Plus Ultra Extra Brut pours a rich straw hue and lifts from the glass with smoky incense, nutmeg, wet asphalt, and crunchy apple. Full-bodied and long on the palate, with a finessed mousse, it expands through the palate with building notes of citrus oils, salty earth, and Christmas spice. True to the vintage, it propels forward with driving acidity and will age at a slow rate. Bottled in 2009 and disgorged in 2019, it had the addition of 3 grams per liter dosage. Drink 2024-2040.
95+ points, Audrey Frick, Jeb Dunnuck (Nov 2023)
The 2008 Extra Brut N.P.U. Nec Plus Ultra is a brilliant, taut Champagne. The combination of vintage and the extra brut style favored a Paillard that yields a young Champagne that is quite austere. It will be interesting to see if the 2008 fills out with time in bottle. Today it is piercing in its intensity. Disgorged: April, 2019.
95 points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous (Nov 2021)
This mouthwatering version offers a creamy, lightly mouthcoating texture, providing a fine, cashmere-like wrap around the steely spine of acidity. Bright and deftly knit, offering a lovely range of ripe white cherry and apricot fruit, fleur de sel, brioche and crystallized honey flavors. Briny mineral and oyster shell notes linger on the finish. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Disgorged April 2019. Drink now through 2033. 398 cases made, 72 cases imported.
95 points, Alison Napjus, Wine Spectator (Nov 2021)
Figs, quince, toast, hazelnuts, walnuts and white chocolate on the nose. It’s medium-bodied, focused and full of energy, with persistent layers of dried fruit and nuts, accompanied by very fine bubbles. Long. Dry and mineral on the finish. Chardonnay and pinot noir. Drink now or hold.
95 points, James Suckling (Aug 2022)
Disgorged in April 2019 with three grams per liter dosage, Paillard's 2008 Extra-Brut N.P.U. Nec Plus Ultra unwinds in the glass with notes of pear and citrus mingled with hazelnut, toasted bread, dried fruits and warm biscuits. Medium to full-bodied, taut and chiseled, it's concentrated and complex, its tightly wound mid-palate complemented by a pearly mousse and underpinned by chalky grip. While it's introverted today, this is a classic in the making that will show brilliantly with more age on cork, even if it will always remain a comparatively lean, acid-driven marathon runner of a Champagne.
94+ points, William Kelley, Wine Advocate (Jan 2022)
N.P.U. 2008 (Nec Plus Ultra) Extra Brut captures the power and grace of the ’08 vintage. A beautiful, burnished gold color with a delicate, fine bead, this N.P.U. is blend of equal parts Grand Cru Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the 2008 vintage. The cuvée was fermented in aged oak barrels, cellared 10 years on lees, then benefitted from an additional 2 years of bottle aging post-disgorgement with a three grams per liter dosage. It opens with a rich and redolent nose of warm apple pie, butter crust, dried cherries, lemon pudding and toast. The light to medium-bodied palate flaunts an impressive textural freshness fused with soft acid energy, loads of ripe orchard fruit, butter pastry and honeyed complexity before finishing long and elegant. 95+ 12% abv. Drink now – 2035. Bottle tasted was disgorged April 2019. This was bottle 03142. 18798 bottles were produced with 623 magnums, all numbered.
94+ points, Sarah Mayo, Wine Independent (Nov 2023)
Fermented and aged for 10 months in old 225-litre barrels, this is an imperious character in 2008, in between the forcible intensity of the vintage and the broad, vinous style of the wine. A spicy and exotic nose starts with orange peel, lemon posset and apricot tart, then savour and intensity build, with dark honey and oiled wood characters showing a gregarious openness. Evolving, though I wouldn’t wait forever. Equal parts grand cru Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
94 points, Tom Henson, Decanter (Apr 2023)
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