Stave off the heat this summer with our recommendations for some of the best blanc de blancs available now. From light and bright to mouth-filling creaminess and salivating minerality, these champagnes will quench your summer thirst.
Pure and Mineral
Champagne doesn’t always have to be fruity or yeasty. Pure, clean and mineral styles heighten our appreciation for the terroir they herald from, all the while enthralling us with their salivating salinity, freshness and lively acidity. Serve them with their food equals…something that is light and fresh from the sea.
Agrapart et Fils Terroirs Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Grand Cru
100% chardonnay taken from two vintages in Avize, Cramant, Oger and Oiry. Vines are an average 40 years old. Comprises 50% reserve wine and 50% from barrel. Up to 36 months on lees. Dosage is 5g/L.
This is a bright, ripe and mineral style with aromas reminiscent of wet chalk, white pepper, pear and grass, but with some slightly oxidative notes. The palate is chiselled and pure, possessing gripping mineral tension and lemon freshness, softened by flavours of comforting pear tarte tatin. Expect a long, dry finish.
Louis Roederer's Blanc de Blancs 2016
100% chardonnay taken from Avize. 28% vinified in oak. No malolactic fermentation. Lower pressure. Aged 5 years on lees. Dosage is 7g/L.
Louis Roederer’s blanc de blancs are typically more earthy than fruity, with a purity and delicacy seldom seen elsewhere. In the 2016 vintage, the nose is garden-fresh, melding together orchard fruits with white flowers and hay without betraying the salty genesis of its terroir. The palate is immediately bright, with a mineral liveliness, but gives way to something that is velvety, fine and graceful. Humming away in the background is a subtle fruit intensity, adding complexity and weight, to this multi-faceted, delicious and elegant champagne that ends with a trademark saline finish.
G.H. Mumm RSRV Blanc de Blancs 2014
100% chardonnay taken from Cramant. Vinified in stainless steel. 4.5 bars of pressure. Aged for 3-4 years on lees. Dosage is 6g/L.
From the ‘chalk mountain’ comes a champagne that is particularly refined: pure, restrained and delicate. The stunning 2014 vintage with RSRV’s lower pressure style makes it so. The nose is all about the sea – oyster shell and wet chalk present a fresh impression - and just a hint of acacia adds some floral beauty. On the palate, it’s light and subtly creamy, dry and saline, leaving a fine chalk fingerprint from the beginning to its long finish.
Pommery Cuvée 150
100% chardonnay taken from 10 villages (Côte des Blancs: Chouilly, Cramant, Avize, Oger; Grande Vallée de la Marne: Dizy; Montagne de Reims: Trépail, Villers-Marmery, Verzy, Verzenay; Les Clos Pompadour: Reims). Vinified in stainless steel and includes 24% reserve wine. Aged for six years on lees. Dosage is 5g/L.
The Cuvée 150 is a real stand-out for its surprising structure but also finesse. It brings a great deal of riper fruit character like nectarine and apricot but also blood orange. Let it unfurl in your glass and you’ll discover ginger spice. There’s a racy edge and a lot of tension, with a finish that is long and assertive.
Ayala Blanc de Blancs A/18
100% chardonnay taken from Chouilly, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Bisseuil and Cuis. Vinification in stainless steel. Malolactic fermentation. Over six years ageing. Dosage is 5g/L.
Ayala’s blanc de blancs flagship, this one based on 2018. Where previous releases have focused purely on Côte des Blancs chardonnay, the A/18 includes some fruit from Bisseuil in the Montagne de Reims because of the added freshness it brings. This is a bright and dynamic wine that again is very delicate but you can feel there is generosity coming, as you would expect from this very warm vintage. In November, champagne lovers can get their opportunity to secure an allocation of this very delicious champagne.
Pierre Gimonnet et Fils Cuvée Cuis 1er Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs
100% chardonnay taken from Cuis in the Côte des Blancs. A combination of five or six vintages including 20% - 30% reserve (depending on the base). Malolactic fermentation. Dosage is 6g/L.
From the land of great chardonnay comes a remarkable blanc de blancs of tremendous energy and precision. It brings together several vintages, three years on lees, and a small dosage to make its chalky origins shine with enthralling tension and freshness. Allow a moment or two and notice how it transforms into an apple blossom beauty with incredible length. Surely one of the best value for money blanc de blancs.
Blanc de Blancs to Stave off the Summer's Heat
From light and bright to mouth-filling creaminess and salivating minerality, these champagnes will quench your summer thirst.
Textured and Creamy
Champagne is at its most seductive when beautifully textured. Soft, creamy and silky blanc de blancs are some of the most pleasant and easy to drink. Serve them on their own or with something light, creamy or toasty to make them shine.
Palmer and Co. Blanc de Blancs NV
100% chardonnay taken mostly from Villers-Marmery and Trépail, blended with fruit from the Côte de Sézanne. Aged for 5 years on lees. Dosage is 7g/L.
Palmer & Co.’s non-vintage blanc de blancs is perhaps most emblematic of their fine and lacey style. The nose offers loads of crushed pineapple mixed with subtle lemon citrus, white flowers and almond. On the palate, the nose finds its equal when it comes to flavour, albeit bordering on some caramelised notes, and finds a balance between vibrant acidity and rich reserves. Texturally, it appears silky with fine chalk minerality. A lovely, pure-drinking cuvée with lots of crowd pleasing appeal.
Boll and Cie Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut 2013
100% chardonnay taken from Oger and Le Mesnil sur Oger. Vinified in stainless steel at low temperatures of 12-13 degrees. Malolactic fermentation. Dosage is 3g/L.
This is a reasonably complex champagne with a nose that teeters between fresh lime, sea spray and toasty aromas, making it appealing as an apéritif or food wine. On the palate, it’s deceptively rich thanks to some good fruit intensity and a creamy and mouth-filling profile, balanced with a saline streak. Lovely long finish.
Domaine Vincey Oger 2019
100% chardonnay from Oger taken from two single vineyards (Chemins des Châlons and Auge) with old vines up to 60 years old. 100% barrel fermented. Light bâtonnage. Aged one year in barrel. No malolactic fermentation. No fining or filtration. Aged three years on lees on cork. Dosage 0g/L.
I will never forget the moment I first tasted Domaine Vincey’s Oger. It was from the 2016 vintage. It was an absolutely stunning blanc de blancs loaded with spritz, crunch and lime zing and an otherworldly texture and porcelain-like delicacy. I likened it to a champagne version of a margarita. 2019 carries forward a good deal of this albeit with more generosity on the palate, juiciness and sweet spice. An absolute cracker for vintage 2019.
Energetic and Bright
Feel the rush of bright acidity, lively minerality and concentrated flavours with these worthy suggestions. They make for excellent apéritifs, but not only. Consider serving them with salmon blinis, oysters au naturel or creamy crab canapes with a twist of lemon to keep things fresh and zingy.
Pierre Péters Cuvée de Reserve Blanc de Blancs Brut NV
100% chardonnay with 50% solera reserve going back to 1988. Fruit taken from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Cramant, Oger and Avize. Partial malolactic fermentation. Dosage is 7g/L.
The wines of Pierre Péters consistently punch above their weight for a small producer, privileged to some of the best vineyards belonging to grand cru villages in the Côte des Blancs. This champagne is one of the best in their range. A youthful, sea spray and oyster shell nose is offset by the warming aromas of almond croissant and toast, care of some impressive solera complexity. The palate is simply exhilarating and delicious, smacking of lemon zest before plunging into the salty depths of the sea. But just before things get too chilly, be buoyed by the underlying richness of tropical fruit notes and brioche. A simply stunning non-vintage blanc de blancs, exuding confidence in its flare and finesse. It finishes long and strong.
Voirin-Jumel Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut NV
100% chardonnay taken from Cramant, Chouilly, Avize and Oger. 20% reserve wine added. Dosage is 6g/L.
This is a super-fresh and lively style, with a tensile quality that keeps everything focused and driven. On the nose, it speaks loudly of its grand cru origins, with bright citrus, florals and cool mineral notes. The palate is alleviated from its strong mineral grip by some nice mid-palate fruit intensity and light creaminess borrowed from Cramant. The finish is of medium length. A really enjoyable apéritif-style champagne that is also one of the best value for money.
Prestige Blanc de Blancs
Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque Blanc de Blancs 2014
100% chardonnay taken from the Maison's emblematic crus including Cramant (Bouron Leroi and Bouron du Midi). Vinification in stainless steel. Aged for 8 years on lees. 6g/L dosage.
2014 was a beautiful year for chardonnay in Champagne, and this one delivers on the year's silky seductiveness. It's delicately balanced with pale gold hues and abundant aromas of white flowers like magnolia, acacia, and hints of almond and ginger. On the palate, a paradox of tension and delicacy with flavours of lemon curd and sugared almonds, culminating in a long finish.
Pierre Gimonnet et Fils Special Club Cramant 2016
100% chardonnay taken from Cramant. Split pressing and cold settling. Temperature controlled fermentation. Malolactic fermentation. Six months elevage. Aged for 4 years on lees. Dosage is 4g/L.
Unashamedly Didier Gimonnet's favourite Special Club, the blend comes from old vineyards, some more than 100 years old, that are among the most significant in the Côte des Blancs. Silky and polished, this is a seriously classy blanc de blancs of great harmony dualling with intensity.
Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires 2014
100% chardonnay comprising equal portions from five Crus in the Côte des Blancs; Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Avize, Cramant and Vertus. 8 years of aging in on lees. 9g/L dosage.
A highly aromatic wine leaning more toward the generosity of orange citrus, grapefruit pithe and sea salt. On the palate it delivers an upfront attack, tightly knit acidity with a solid backbone of Blanc des Millénaires trademark chalk minerality. The intensity of its freshness is matched by a deeply concentrated and delicious palate underscored by a notably silky and delicate texture which is a hallmark of the year. The charm and potential of chardonnay from 2014, I feel, will make it one of the very best Blanc des Millénaires in history.
Lanson Le Clos Lanson 2010
100% chardonnay taken from Lanson's one hectare plot of chardonnay grown organically and vinified in Argonne forest oak barrels, without any malolactic fermentation. 12 years on lees.
After a very long ageing process in Lanson's cellars, the result is a rare wine: full bodied, rich and delicate. Le Clos Lanson reveals a fine and precise nose which is expressed with delicate woody notes. The wine seduces with its great balance and its beautiful aromatic palate, revealing generous and gourmet notes, with a subtle fruity aromas.
Deutz Amour de Deutz Millésime 2013
100% chardonnay taken from Avize, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Villeneuve, Vertus and Villers-Marmery. 9 years on lees. 8g/L dosage.
Always one of the more delightful prestige blanc de blancs known for its silky elegance and dazzling brilliance. Here, the nose is pronounced, rich and complex. There's ripe orchard fruit juciness, subtle autolysis and loads of energising sea spray that breezes over like fresh air. The palate is broad and creamy, wonderfully textured, with a light, silken touch. Then enjoy the length, which is generous, with a slight mineral grip on the finish.
