Blanc de Noirs

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Wine

By Jancis Robinson

Published 2006

  • About

French for ‘white of blacks’, describes a white wine made from dark-skinned grapes by pressing them very gently and running the pale juice off the skins as early as possible. Many such still wines have a slightly pink tinge (see white zinfandel, for example). The term has a specific meaning in the Champagne region, where it is used to describe a champagne made exclusively from pinot noir and meunier grapes, a speciality of the Aube district in Champagne. See also vin gris and blush.