Côte des Blancs

The Côte des Blancs is the chardonnay slope south of Épernay in Champagne. Chardonnay covers 97% of its vineyard, and six of its villages are grand cru.

The wine

Chardonnay covers 97% of the Côte des Blancs vineyard, which gives the wine great aromatic finesse. Across Champagne as a whole, chardonnay makes up 32% of plantings, so this slope stands apart from the rest of the region. A Blanc de Blancs Champagne is made only from white grapes, mainly chardonnay.

The area covers about 3,200 hectares across ten communes: Avize, Bergères-lès-Vertus, Chouilly, Cramant, Cuis, Grauves, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Oiry and Vertus. The slope peaks at 248 m above Avize, and the vines sit roughly between 100 and 200 m. Chalk outcrops throughout and acts as an underground reservoir of water and heat for the vines.

Six villages are grand cru: Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger and Oiry. Under the original cru scale only Cramant and Avize held that rank, and the other four were promoted in 1985. In Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, the Clos du Mesnil is a walled plot of 1.87 hectares owned by Krug.

Visiting

Épernay, at the north end of the slope, is the station for the Côte des Blancs. The train from Paris Gare de l'Est takes 1 hour 20 minutes, and Reims–Épernay TERs run every 30 minutes. The villages have no stations, so you reach them by the Mouveo bus network around Épernay or on an organized minibus outing from the tourist office.

A tourist route runs through the area. Cramant is announced by a huge bottle sculpture and has a garden of vines, Vertus has a heritage trail, and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger has a vine and wine museum. The route ends at Mont Aimé, which has a panoramic view.

For cellar visits, several growers in the area welcome visitors:

• Champagne Guy Charlemagne, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. A free tour of the cellars, presses and fermentation rooms, in English and French. The average visit is 30 minutes, and booking is required.
• Champagne J. L. Vergnon, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. You can visit the cellars and taste a flute in the tasting room.
• Champagne Hervé Dubois, Avize. The visit covers an old cellar and a modern press house.

Champagne Waris-Hubert in Avize receives visitors in a renovated bourgeois house among the vines, and Champagne Veuve J. Lanaud, also in Avize, shows its press house and vat room. Ask each estate about tasting fees and booking when you plan your visit.

Spit as you taste, or choose a designated driver.

Harvest dates are set village by village and grape by grape each year by the Comité Champagne, and about 120,000 seasonal pickers work the vineyards. Check dates before planning a harvest-time visit.