Champagne may be celebrated as a blend of three great varietals, but in the case of chardonnay, it has the ability to stand alone like no other. Blanc de blancs can be the freshest and most elegant of all champagnes, wonderfully transparent of the soil on which it’s grown and providing drinkers with a real taste of Champagne. Award-winning author, Kaaren Palmer, takes a closer look at Champagne’s king of white grapes.
Chardonnay wines from Champagne present a great cache of attributes. From the crystalline purity of chalk and citrus associated with the Côte des Blancs, to the richer and rounder profile of the Montagne de Reims, and more characterful chardonnays of the Aube, it is an adaptable grape with an almost chameleon-like ability to express itself through its terroir rather than as itself. Therefore, when grown in different areas of Champagne, and blended, it appears more than one-dimensional.
Blended with wine made from pinot noir or meunier, it adds lift and elegance. Alone, it can be sharp or thin when young, but becomes rich and buttery with age.
It can hold a red wine drinker’s interest like no other white grape because of its weighty feel in the mouth so that its acidity is less noticeable, except as palate length.
With age, chardonnay’s palate length becomes longer and the aromas and flavours rich and nutty.
Champagne's 'King of White' is Chardonnay
Chardonnay is an adaptable grape with an almost chameleon-like ability to express itself through its terroir rather than as itself.
In Champagne, plantings of chardonnay occur in areas where the subsoil suits its requirement for good drainage. That subsoil is usually chalky, but other well-drained slopes where the microclimate is suitable include east-facing slopes that catch the morning sun, and the calcareous slopes of southern Champagne. As there is no significant topographical barrier between Champagne and the sea, moderating oceanic influences help ameliorate what is usually a harsh climate for grapes.
The Côte des Blancs, its topsoil visibly chalky white, is south of Epernay and perpendicular to the Marne. It is a famous Champagne viticultural area for good reason, but outcrops of chalky subsoils are scattered further than the continuous grand and premier cru vineyards of the Côte – south of the Congy area to the Sézannais, the Vitryat area south-east of Châlons-en-Champagne, and at Montgueux north-west of Troyes, albeit with a subsoil of a different type of chalk, from an older geological era.
Chardonnay tolerates cold and buds early when compared to other vines in Champagne’s relatively short growing season.
The vines mature quickly and early, when there is a risk of spring frost damage to tender young shoots. The young yellowy-green leaves of chardonnay vines are as if traversed by cobwebs, with small tan bumps on the underside. Two thick veins radiate from each leaf’s stem, either side of the centre. The white buds have fluffy, rosy edges. The grapes themselves are small and spherical, loosely packed in slightly elongated bunches. Their skins are delicate and split easily. When they ripen, they change colour from green to yellow-green, then golden yellow, even slightly tawny when very ripe. Farmers say to one another, “the foxes have pissed”, that is, the grapes are ready for harvesting.
Salon's Iconic Cuvée S
Cuvée S from Champagne Salon is the descendant of that first blanc de blancs; it is only made in excellent years.
In the glass, the colour of chardonnay from Champagne ranges from pale green to lemon yellow. Its bead in champagne is tiny. Its aromas depend on where they are grown, the terroir, for their expression. The first reported all-chardonnay – or blanc de blancs – champagne was produced by Eugène Aimé Salon at Le Mesnil-sur-Oger in 1911. His first commercial vintage was produced in 1921.
Cuvée S from Champagne Salon is the descendant of that first blanc de blancs; it is only made in excellent years. Mumm de Cramant Blanc de Blancs was not born until 1922, and others came much later, such as Taittinger’s Comtes de Champagne, in 1952.
Ruinart, Billecart-Salmon, Delamotte, Perrier-Jouët and Henriot assemble readily available, non-vintage blanc de blancs cuvées. For vintage blanc de blancs, houses that produce delightful examples include Deutz, Ayala, Billecart-Salmon, Delamotte, Duval-Leroy, Jacquesson, G.H. Mumm, Pol Roger and Louis Roederer. The cooperatives, Nicolas Feuillatte, Le Mesnil, Jacquart and Palmer & Co. also bottle pure vintage chardonnay champagnes.
