Blanc de Noirs Champagne

Champagne labels sometimes indicate Blanc de blancs or Blanc de noirs. The blancs and noirs refer to the grapes. The Blanc de blancs Champagnes draw their characters from Chardonnay, a white grape variety; while the Blanc de noirs Champagnes are made from black grape varieties, Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier.

Blanc de blancs Champagne is only made from Chardonnay whose grapes are white. This grape variety covers 27% of the Champagne vineyard, mainly south of Epernay, on the slopes of this relief aptly named the Côte des Blancs. Literally, Blanc de blancs is a white champagne vinified from white grapes, in the same way that the Blancs de noirs are white Champagnes produced only from black grapes (Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier).

These Blanc de blancs cuvées, which exhale buttery and brioche notes, enjoy greater prestige than the brut wines. They are renowned for their delicacy and elegance. For a long time, they were considered to be the finest and freshest on the market. In recent years, there has been a growing trend towards extra-brut vintages, with very low sugar content, which also offer freshness and finesse.

Among the prestige vintages of the great Houses, the Blanc de blancs occupy a place of choice with the Cristal de chez Roederer or the Comtes de Champagne de Taittinger, but they are not the only ones. The mythical Dom Pérignon cuvée or Pol Roger's Winston Churchill cuvée are blends, for example.

The most expensive Champagne in the world, the Clos d'Ambonnay de Krug is a Blanc de noirs made only from Pinot Noir.