Blanc de noirs: white bubbly made from red grapes

"Blanc de noirs" bubbly is a white wine made from… (a) white grapes, (b) red grapes, or (c) a nun's secret recipe?

Blanc de noirs literally means "white from blacks." The juice of most red grapes is actually clear. All the color lives in the skins. So if the winemaker presses the grapes gently and gets the juice away from the skins fast, you end up with a white wine made entirely from red grapes.

Red wine is red because of the skins, not the juice.

What's in the glass

In Champagne, blanc de noirs is made from Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, or both. Compared with an all-Chardonnay blanc de blancs, it tends to be a little rounder and richer, with red-fruit notes like strawberry and raspberry. That makes it a great bubbly for dinner, not just for toasting.

Try it at your next party

Pour a blanc de noirs next to a blanc de blancs and have your friends guess which is which. It's the easiest wine lesson you'll ever host. Or let me run the tasting for you.