The Côte des Blancs. Where Chardonnay becomes Champagne’s purest expression.

A slope made for Chardonnay

The Côte des Blancs runs south from Épernay, at right angles to the Marne River. Chardonnay covers more than 95% of its vineyards, and for good reason. The grape buds early, which makes it vulnerable to spring frost, so it needs well-drained hillsides with good sun. The east-facing slopes here give exactly that, while sheltering the vines from cold westerly winds.

Beneath a thin topsoil lies Cretaceous chalk, full of the fossilized remains of belemnites and other creatures from an ancient inland sea. The chalk holds moisture, reflects and stores heat and helps keep acidity bright. The name of the area refers both to its white grapes and to its white soils. The very best sites sit in the middle of the slope, the coeur de terroir, between the clay-rich, forested tops and the flatter, overly productive plain below.

Grand Cru villages and their personalities

Six of the 13 villages are rated Grand Cru: Avize, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Chouilly and Oiry. Premier Cru villages include Cuis, Vertus, Bergères-les-Vertus and Voipreux. As a broad rule, the northern villages give richer wines and the southern villages more tension and freshness.

The episode sketches each village’s character: roundness in Chouilly, creamy silk in Cramant, power and structure in Avize, fruit richness in Oger and saline precision in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, with floral freshness in Premier Cru Vertus. Cramant and Avize were the first villages here to be classified Grand Cru, and the area was once called the Côte d’Avize. Great houses source their Blanc de Blancs here too, and Taittinger’s Comtes de Champagne is singled out as one of the first wines of the style.

Growers, houses and the dosage debate

Walking above Le Mesnil, with Oger, Avize and Cramant spread out before them, the hosts call this the prime turf of Chardonnay in the world. Yet they agree chalk is not the whole story: climate, altitude and winemaking all shape the wine. They also discuss why dosage levels keep falling, as warmer seasons and riper fruit reduce the need for sugar, and why Andreas still thinks a few grams help a Champagne age gracefully.

On the Avenue de Champagne in Épernay, glass in hand, Susie admits she leans toward growers for everyday drinking, while Andreas argues the big houses have greatly raised their game. A local wine merchant explains the difference simply: a house offers a consistent style, while a grower shows one village, one plot and their own work in vineyard and cellar.

Champagne’s rules, from vine to cellar

The episode also explains how the CIVC, the trade body founded in 1941 to represent both houses and growers, keeps Champagne under tight control. You will learn about the limits on vine spacing, the ban on irrigation, the approved pruning methods, hand harvesting by around 120,000 seasonal pickers and the strict pressing limits: 2,550 liters of juice from 4,000 kilograms of grapes, split into the cuvée and the taille.

Aging rules matter too. Non-vintage Champagne must spend at least 15 months in the cellar and vintage Champagne at least three years, and the best often rest much longer.

Three Blanc de Blancs and a dish to match

Susie brings three wines that show how different pure Chardonnay can be: Franck Bonville’s lean, steely Pur Avize 2018, the richer, oak-touched Cuvée des Caudalies from biodynamic pioneers De Sousa, and Larmandier-Bernier’s Terre de Vertus 2017 from a single Premier Cru plot. Watch to hear which one Andreas calls a Champagne for a masochist.

Chef Jérémy then serves lightly smoked local salmon with stracciatella, grilled focaccia, citrus and grilled baby gem. Find out why the smoky lettuce turns out to be the surprise star, and why Andreas calls Blanc de Blancs such a forgiving partner for creamy and citrus flavors.

Go furtherStudying Champagne in depth? The Champagne Master-Level program from the Wine Scholar Guild is a natural next step after this episode.