Regions
Côte des Blancs
A chalk-rich ridge south of Épernay planted almost exclusively to Chardonnay, famous for the region's most precise blanc de blancs.
- Notable villages
- Avize · Chouilly · Cramant · Le Mesnil-sur-Oger · Oger · Oiry
Geography
The Côte des Blancs is a 20-km east-facing escarpment running south from Épernay through the Marne department. It sits directly on the Campanian chalk that gives Champagne its name ("Blancs" refers to the white grape, Chardonnay — and, by echo, to the white chalk itself).
Terroir
Almost the entire vineyard area is planted to Chardonnay. The combination of pure chalk subsoil, cool microclimate and east-facing exposure yields wines of high acidity, marked mineral tension and notable ageing potential. Grand cru status applies to six villages: Cramant, Avize, Oger, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Chouilly and Oiry.
Houses and growers
The Côte des Blancs supplies the Chardonnay backbone of many northern house cuvées — Krug, Taittinger (whose Comtes de Champagne is 100% Côte des Blancs chardonnay) and Louis Roederer among them — and is the heartland of the grower-producer movement. Specialist growers based here include Salon (Le Mesnil-sur-Oger), Pierre Péters, Agrapart, De Sousa and Pascal Doquet.
What to expect
Blanc de blancs from the Côte des Blancs tends to be taut and linear in youth, with green-apple and citrus aromatics; it develops pastry, brioche and honeyed notes with extended lees ageing. Prestige cuvées such as Salon, Taittinger Comtes de Champagne and Louis Roederer Cristal all draw materially on parcels here.
Notable villages
Houses based here
Recent
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Pol Roger sources its Blanc de Blancs exclusively from Grand Cru Chardonnay vineyards in the Côte des Blancs.
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Côte des Blancs is located south of Epernay in the Marne department, stretching about 20 km with 3,313 hectares of vineyards as of 2006.
- Business
95% Chardonnay is planted in Côte des Blancs, giving the region its name from the grape's color.
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Champagnes from Côte des Blancs are labeled as 'blanc de blancs'.
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The Côte des Blancs occupies a hillside subregion south of Épernay , with slopes devoted almost entirely to Chardonnay.
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Four villages in the Côte des Blancs — Avize, Cramant, Oger, and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger — hold grand cru status with a 100 per cent rating on the échelle des crus scale.
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Vineyards in the Côte des Blancs face predominantly east, an orientation that moderates direct sun exposure and preserves natural acidity.
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The Côte des Blancs sits upon a deep seam of Belemnite chalk, a highly porous subsoil that regulates water availability to roots.
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The Côte des Blancs is the definitive address for Blanc de Blancs champagne, produced exclusively from white grapes, principally Chardonnay.
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Wines from the Côte des Blancs are distinguished by freshness, citrus and white-flower character, fine persistent bubbles, and proven ability to develop over many years in bottle.