Blanc de Blanc is a term that is almost exclusively used in sparkling wines, it literally means white from white in French, that is to say a white wine made from just white grapes. But why is the term used, what can I expect from a Blanc de Blanc and duh, of course a white wine is coming from white grapes, right?

Well let’s start with the last point, don’t white wines come from white grapes? The answer is yes, usually. White grapes, or if you were to see them you may call them green grapes, are the basis for most of the white wines of the world, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay wouldn’t look too different in color from the green grapes you buy at the grocery store. However, there are many “white” grapes that are more of a light purple color, often called grey in the wine world. Such grapes include Pinot Gris/Grigio (gris and grigio literally mean grey in French and Italian respectively and Gewurztraminer, both grapes have a much darker hue than their cousins. You can even make white wine from what the wine world calls black grapes, like Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir. The important thing to know is that color in wines often comes from the skins. Grape juice, the main ingredient in wine, is colorless, it is only through leaving the juice in contact with the skin that color starts to come out. So for wines like Chardonnay and Pinot Gris there will be no skin contact, however in Cabernet or Pinot Noir based wines the juice may be in contact with the skins of the grapes for weeks to extract as much color as possible.

So why is the term used? Basically, to indicate that only white grapes were used. It is commonplace to use both black and white grapes in sparkling wine production, most of the time the juice just doesn’t sit with the skins at all for the black grapes, meaning you can still have a white wine that was made with black grapes.

Whew, we made it through all the technical mumbo jumbo! So, most importantly what should you expect out of a Blanc de Blanc? Well, we typically say they lean into the citrus side of the fruit spectrum, think lemon zest and sometimes orange skins. They also seem to have an ever elusive minerality that is so hard to describe, but so easy to love. Finally, these wines seem to take on the autolytic (bready) tones more easily, so those that have been aged sur lee (on the lees) for an extended period can show off notes of croissants and brioche.

This week we’ll be trying a Blanc de Blanc from France, so be sure to stop in and try something new with us!