WINE REVIEWS
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Blanc de Blancs bring drama to the table like no other style of sparkling wine.
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White from white
Mat h e
DESKTOP www.matthewjukes.com ENVELOPE vineyard.ed@kelsey.co.uk Blanc de Blancs is one of the first wine terms one learns while wandering through the foothills of wine lexicography. Why is it that wine terms always sound more refined in French? While it is debatable whether we will ever see ‘White from White’ written on a wine label, it is worth remembering that Blanc de Blancs while usually made from Chardonnay in Champagne can be made from other white grapes, too, like Arbane, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. In the UK, we follow the French, using Blanc de Blancs on our labels, and we generally stick to Chardonnay, too. However, I like to take the expression at face value, as you will see from my inclusion of Danebury’s exemplary white grape-based sparkler opposite. But what makes wines made from exclusively white ingredients so special, striking, sought after or worthy of consideration? Tyson Stelzer’s seminal Champagne Bible rates the following Houses as making Blanc de Blancs with eye-watering ratings of 96/100 and above – Diebolt-Vallois, Pierre Péters, BillecartSalmon, Philiponnat and Pierre Gimonnet. Every one of these wines draws fruit from the Côte des Blancs, and they are all made from 100% Chardonnay. So, should we concentrate on making purely Chardonnay-based wines from a specific sub-region? All of my wine recommendations this month come from Hampshire – is this relevant? The aforementioned Danebury beauty has not a drop of Chardy in its framework, and I have indeed tasted a couple of sensational Blanc de Blancs from a handful of other counties, so this must be a red herring in Great Britain. I think it is the shape of these wines that we are in love with, and this shape defines the terms Blanc de Blancs more than a recipe or the origins of the grapes. I crave linear, crystalline rigidity in my favourite Blanc de Blancs – wines with energy, drive and a pristine sense of crispness that red grape-based wines can never fully mimic. Elite Blanc de Blancs are always sleek in their youth, with pronounced acidity that softens as they age, and while they can put on weight, they never fatten up or round out like a traditional tri-varietal blend. Essentially, Blanc de Blancs bring drama to the table like no other style of sparkling wine, and we have plenty to enjoy within our shores. I think our freedom to express ourselves using multiple white varieties and a range of soil types and microclimates might give us the edge in years to come.
Quality Control for Winemakers
The WineLab measures multiple parameters quickly & easily including: l Gluconic acid l L-malic & L-lactic acid l Total acidity l Sugars l Free & total SO2 l Alcohol by volume 01342 820820 www.qclwine.com
22 J UVineyard L Y 2June 0 2022.indd 2 2 | 1V I N E Y A R D
03/05/2022 11:19:42
