Opposite page, clockwise from top left: Champagne
Delamotte cellar; Chardonnay vineyards in the hilly Côte
des Blancs region; glass of Champagne Delamotte
Opposite: Champagne Delamotte cellar photo by Leif Carlsson / Champagne Delamotte Didier Depond by Serge Chapuis / Cote des Blancs by John Hodder, courtesy Champagne Bureau / This page: Caviar & Champagne by Philippe Exbrayat
It might surprise some wine drinkers
that great Champagne wines can be made
entirely from the Chardonnay grape vari-
ety. We have all had our share of medio-
cre Chardonnay wines, many tasting (and
smelling) more of oak than of fruit, and
some tasting too sweet and/or over-ripe.
Chardonnay’s image has suffered from
such wines. But when Chardonnay grapes
grow in suitable places in a cool climate,
the resulting wines can be magnificent.
Built from Better Chard
Three of the finest areas for Chardon-
nay happen to be in the country of its
birthplace, France (the grape apparently
originated in the Burgundy region). Char-
donnay wines are at their best in the Côte
de Beaune district of Burgundy—home
of such magnificent wines as Montrachet
and Corton-Charlemagne; Chablis (espe-
cially Grand Cru and Premier Cru Cha-
blis); and in the Côte des Blancs district,
located just southeast of the town of Eper-
nay in Champagne.
The Côte des Blancs might be the
very best site for Chardonnay. Not all
white Burgundies and Chablis (both also
100
percent Chardonnay, by the way) are
truly great wines, but I’ve seldom if ever
tasted a blanc de blancs Champagne that
was not at least very good, and at its best,
truly sublime. All blanc de blancs Cham-
pagnes do not originate from grapes grow-
ing in the Côte des Blancs, but certainly
the best ones do. And fortunately for us,
most blanc de blancs Champagnes avail-
able in the U.S. are made from grapes
grown in Côte des Blancs vineyards.
Six Grand Cru–rated villages and one
very good Premier Cru village make up
the heart of the Côte des Blancs. North
to south, the Grand Cru villages are Oiry
(
the smallest), Chouilly (the largest),
Cramant, Avize, Oger and Le Mesnil-sur-
Oger. Vertus, on the southern end of the
Côte des Blancs, is the Premier Cru vil-
lage. Why is the Côte des Blancs sacred
ground for Chardonnay? The cool climate
of the Champagne region in general,
where grapes struggle to ripen each year,
seems to bring out the greatness (miner-
ality, lively acidity) of Chardonnay; and
specifically, the region’s very chalky, lime-
stone soil, hundreds of feet deep in the
Côte des Blancs, makes the vines dig deep
for nourishment. This type of soil is also
ideal for water drainage—very necessary
for the vines. In short, this soil, really suit-
able for growing nothing but grapes, has
proven to be ideal for Chardonnay.
Relatively Young Genre
Blanc de blancs Champagne is a rela-
tively new type of Champagne. Although
Champagne has been made for over 300
years, commercially made blanc de blancs
Champagne began in the 1920s, when
Eugène-Aimé Salon (founder of Salon
Champagne) released his first vintage
in 1921. During the Roaring ’20s, Salon
Champagne became the rage of Paris.
However, the Depression, World War
II and Salon’s death in 1943 practically
caused blanc de blancs Champagne to
disappear. Then, in 1957, the house of
Taittinger released the 1952 vintage of
its now-famous Comtes de Champagne
Blanc de Blancs. Other producers soon
jumped on the blanc-wagon, in a big way.
Somewhat surprisingly, many large
Champagne houses—such as Moët &
Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Laurent-Per-
rier, Piper-Heidsieck and Bollinger—still
do not make a blanc de blancs Cham-
pagne. I once asked Richard Geoffroy,
chief winemaker of Moët & Chandon,
and in personal charge of its gem, Dom
Pérignon, why Moët does not make a
blanc de blancs. Geoffroy cited two rea-
sons: He does not find blanc de blancs
Champagnes balanced in the way he en-
visions Champagne to be; and (perhaps
Food Factor
Light-bodied, very dry and elegant,
blanc de blancs Champagne makes
an ideal apéritif—just what you need
to whet your appetite. For those who
love caviar, these bubblies are never
too heavy to obscure caviar’s delicate
flavor. They are also an ideal match for
sushi; or if seafood is on the menu—
perhaps a delicately flavored fish, or a
light fish soup—blanc de blancs can
ably continue into dinner. Its style also
works fabulously with vegetable dishes,
egg dishes and Asian cuisine that’s not
too hot and spicy. Medium to-full-bodied
vintage blanc de blancs Champagnes,
especially those from Cramant, Avize or
Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, are heavy enough
to accompany lobster, game birds and
full-flavored poultry or pork dishes.
Salon released the first
vintage blanc de blancs
Champagne in the 1920s;
then the genre nearly
disappeared in the ’40s.