Chardonnay

Chardonnay accounts for roughly thirty percent of plantings across the AOC and dominates the chalk slopes of the Côte des Blancs and the Côte de Sézanne. It brings acidity, mineral cut and ageing potential; with bottle time it develops citrus zest, toasted brioche and that signature chalk-and-saline length.

In a non-vintage blend it sets the architecture; pulled out on its own it makes Blanc de Blancs, the most age-worthy expression of Champagne. Grand cru villages — Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Avize, Cramant, Oger, Chouilly — are its heartland.