Blanc de Blancs is white Champagne made exclusively from white-wine grapes; the phrase Blanc de Blancs is French for "white of whites". It is, in one regard, the exact opposite of Blanc de Noirs.
The most commonly used variety in Blancs de Blancs wine is Chardonnay. This is hardly surprising, given Chardonnay's high status and popularity in the Champagne region. Less obvious, however, are the other four grape varieties that the appellation laws permit for use: Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Petit Meslier and Arbane. (© All rights reserved, Wine-Searcher.)
Very few producers make Blanc de Blancs Champagnes from anything other than pure Chardonnay, but there are a few such wines of real interest.
Michel Drappier's Quattuor is produced from four different white varieties (hence the name Quattuor). The four in question are Chardonnay, Arbane, Petit Meslier and Pinot Blanc (known in Champagne as Blanc Vrai).
Duval-Leroy's "Authentis Petit Meslier" Champagne is notable because it does not contain any of the three classic Champagne grapes. It is made purely from Petit Meslier. Jancis Robinson's tasting notes for the Authentis describe the wine as "very floral with some green leafy notes".
Moutard Pere et Fils "Cepage Arbane" Champagne is (as the name implies) made purely from Arbane – an increasingly rare grape variety, which is perhaps the most obscure of the Champagne grapes. Arbane has never spread very far, and now exists in just a few acres of vineyard in the Cote des Bar district (Moutard's homeland), in southern Champagne. Moutard also use the variety in their Cuvee Six Cepages Brut, alongside five other varieties.
Cedric Bouchard's Roses de Jeanne range contains several single-variety Champagnes, two of which are Blancs de Blancs: La Boloree (100-percent Pinot Blanc) and La Haute-Lemblee (100-percent Chardonnay). These wines have been met with adoration in various circles, and have earned Bouchard a solid reputation among "Grower Champagne" producers.
The most famous examples of Chardonnay-based Blanc de Blancs Champagnes are Dom Ruinart, Salon's Le Mesnil and Krug's Clos de Mesnil. The latter two are made entirely from Chardonnay grapes sourced from Mesnil-sur-Oger, a village in the Cote des Blancs sub-region. The Cote des Blancs (literally the Hill of Whites) is located south of Epernay and is essentially a chalky, east-facing slope just short of 10 miles (16km) in length.
The flavors and style of Blanc de Blancs Champagne is distinct from other Champagnes – most of which are made with high proportions of black-skinned Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
