Blanc de Noirs Champagne — White Wine from Black Grapes, Pure and Powerful

Blanc de Noirs is perhaps Champagne's most counterintuitive wine: it is white, but made from black-skinned grapes. This apparent paradox produces some of the region's most powerful, complex, and distinctive wines.

How Blanc de Noirs is Made

The key is in the pressing. Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier — both black-skinned varieties — contain colourless juice. By pressing the grapes extremely gently and quickly, the winemaker extracts the clear juice before it picks up any colour from the skins. The result is a white wine that carries none of the grape's pigment but inherits its power, body, and structure.

Character of Blanc de Noirs

Compared to Blanc de Blancs (100% Chardonnay), Blanc de Noirs is typically:

→    Fuller-bodied — Pinot Noir contributes structure and weight

→    Richer — stone fruit, red berries, brioche, and toasty notes

→    More powerful — particularly on the palate

→    Less citrus-driven — more vinous, less austere

The Great Blanc de Noirs Producers

Bollinger — Vieilles Vignes Françaises is among the world's most celebrated Champagnes, made from tiny parcels of ungrafted Pinot Noir.

Krug — Clos d'Ambonnay, one of the rarest and most expensive Champagnes, is a single-plot Blanc de Noirs from an enclosed vineyard in Ambonnay.

Egly-Ouriet — one of Champagne's most celebrated grower-producers, making outstanding Blanc de Noirs from the Montagne de Reims.

Agrapart — small grower in Avize, producing excellent Blanc de Noirs alongside their Blanc de Blancs.

Food Pairing

Blanc de Noirs's richness makes it excellent with:

→    Poultry — roast chicken, guinea fowl, duck breast

→    White fish with butter sauces

→    Veal escalopes

→    Light red meat dishes — lamb cutlets, veal chop