Blanc de blancs: wine made only from white grapes

Blanc de blancs is a white wine made only from white grapes. That sounds obvious, but in Champagne it is not: two of the three main grapes there are black, and a lot of champagne is made wholly or partly from those black grapes.

The French government describes the term for champagne as a mention facultative, a voluntary statement. A champagne called blanc de blancs must be made 'exclusively from white grapes'. The producer decides whether to put the term on the label.

Because chardonnay is the only major white grape in Champagne. According to the Comité Champagne, the vineyard consists of 38 percent pinot noir, 31 percent meunier and 31 percent chardonnay. Pinot noir and meunier are black grapes.

The specifications of the AOC Champagne also allow a few other white varieties, such as arbane, petit meslier and pinot blanc. These are hardly planted. The Comité calls chardonnay 'the king of the Côte des Blancs': a part of the region where the chalk comes to the surface.

Blanc de noirs is the mirror image: a white champagne made exclusively from black grapes, so from pinot noir, meunier or both.

For both styles the same further rules of the AOC Champagne apply. The second fermentation takes place in the bottle. A non-vintage champagne ages at least fifteen months from bottling for the second fermentation, a millésime at least thirty-six months. The sugar designation, such as brut or extra brut (0 to 6 grams per litre), also works the same for both.

Yes. Blanc de blancs is not a protected designation of origin but a description of the grapes. Producers of crémant and of sparkling wine in other countries use the term too.

One example is the Crémant de Loire. The specifications of that appellation allow, among others, the white varieties chardonnay, chenin and orbois, alongside black grapes such as cabernet franc and pinot noir. A crémant made only from the white varieties may call itself blanc de blancs. Here too the wine ferments a second time in the bottle, with a minimum of twelve months of ageing from bottling. In Italy and Argentina the producer chooses which white grapes to use; the label or the producer tells which ones they are.

The correct spelling is blanc de blancs, with an s at the end. The French 'blanc de blancs' means 'white from white (grapes)': the second word is plural because it refers to several grapes. In the same way one writes blanc de noirs.

You will often see the form 'blanc de blanc' in searches. The same thing is meant. On French labels and in the official texts it is always blanc de blancs.

From Champagne, the shelf holds Ayala A/18 Le Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut, Piper-Heidsieck Essentiel Blanc de Blancs and Ernest Rapeneau Blanc de Blancs, among others. For a crémant from the Loire there is Langlois Blanc de Blancs Crémant de Loire.

Outside France you will find Bellussi Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut from Italy, and from Argentina Salentein Blanc de Blancs and Salentein Cuvée Exceptionnelle Brut Blanc de Blancs. That way you can set champagne, crémant and a sparkling wine from another country side by side.

Would you like to know which bottle suits your occasion? Feel free to call 0570 541 278 or drop by at Brink 2 in Bathmen.

The shop is at Brink 2 in Bathmen. Open Tuesday to Friday from 09.00 to 18.00 and Saturday from 09.00 to 17.00. For advice, call 0570 541 278 or email info@bockje.nl.