BLANC DE BLANCS

Non-vintage, vintage, and prestige Literally meaning “white of whites,” this wine is produced entirely from white Chardonnay grapes and possesses the greatest aging potential of all Champagnes. Blanc de blancs may be made in any district of Champagne, but the best examples come from a small part of the Côte des Blancs between Cramant and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. If consumed too early, a classic blanc de blancs can be austere and seem to lack fruit and generosity, yet with proper maturity this style of Champagne can be very succulent. Given a few years’ bottle aging after purchase, most blanc de blancs develop a toasty-lemony bouquet together with intense, beautifully focused fruit. If the first blend of Lenoble’s nonvintage Cuvée Les Aventures (1990/5/6) is anything to go by, it will be fighting for a place in the top 10 nonvintage blanc de blancs.

I Nonvintage Billecart-Salmon • Boizel • Bonnaire • Gaston Chicquet • Delamotte • Pierre Gimonnet • Moncuit • Joseph Perrier • Jacques Sélosse (Tradition) • Vilmart & Cie • Vintage Billecart-Salmon • Bonnaire • Deutz • Duval-Leroy • Pierre

Gimonnet (Collection en magnum) • Jacquesson (Avize) • Henri Mandois (Chardonnay Brut) • Le Mesnil (Vigne Sélectionnée) • Pol Roger • Louis Roederer • Prestige cuvée Boizel (Joyeau) • Deutz (Amour de Deutz) • Charles Heidsieck (Cuvée de Millénaires) • Krug (Clos du Mesnil) • Ruinart (Dom Ruinart) • Salon (“S”) • Taittinger (Comtes de Champagne)

BLANC DE NOIRS

Nonvintage, vintage, and prestige Literally translated as “white of blacks,” these Champagnes are made entirely from black grapes, either Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier, or a blend of the two. The most famous and most expensive is Bollinger’s Vieilles Vignes Françaises, which is a unique example of pure Pinot Noir Champagne made from two tiny plots of ungrafted vines, which between them cannot produce more than 3,000 bottles, hence the hefty price tag. Aside from Bollinger, few producers have traditionally used the term blanc de noirs, but the Vieilles Vignes Françaises has given it a certain cachet and a few commercially minded houses have begun to cash in on the term (Beaumet, Jeanmaire, Mailly Grand Cru, Oudinot, and De Venoge, for example). Many supermarkets now sell their own-label brand of blanc de noirs. Bollinger inadvertently created the myth that a blanc de noirs is intrinsically a big, full, and muscular Champagne, but it is generally little different in style from the other cuvées a house may produce. If you try Serge Mathieu’s Champagne, you will discover a wine so elegant that you would never guess it is made only from Pinot Noir, let alone that it is grown in the Aube. Pommery’s Wintertime and the Mailly cooperative’s basic nonvintage Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru just miss the cut, but deserve an honorary mention. Another cooperative, Veuve A. Devaux, has just come back on track with its nonvintage Blanc de Noirs, which should make the list next time around if standards are maintained.

I Bollinger (Vieilles Vignes Françaises) • Canard-Duchêne (Charles VII) • Serge Mathieu (Cuvée Tradition) • Moët & Chandon (Les Sarments d’Aÿ)

CHÂTEAU CARONNE STE. GEMME

AOC Haut-Médoc Cru Bourgeois Supérieur

This property is situated south of Château Lagrange—a superb island of vines on a gravel plateau. Matured in wood for 12 months, with 25 percent new oak.

RED Full-bodied wines rich in flavor with undertones of creamy oak, and a supple, tannin structure.

Cabernet Sauvignon 65%, Merlot 33%, Petit Verdot 2%

8–20 years

Second wine: Château Labat

CHÂTEAU CHANTELYS

AOC Médoc Cru Bourgeois

Owner Christine Courrian Braquissac brings a gentle touch to the naturally firm wines of this district.

RED Well-colored, medium-bodied, gently rich-flavored wines of some elegance.

Cabernet Sauvignon 55%, Merlot 40%, Petit Verdot 5%

3–8 years

Second wine: Château Gauthier

CHAMBAVE DOC

A subappellation of the regional Valle d’Aosta DOC, Chambave produces attractively scented, crisp red wines primarily from Petit Rouge grapes, plus up to 40 percent Dolcetto, Gamay, and Pinot Noir. Two white wines are also permitted; one sweet, long-lived, and passito in style, the other a highly perfumed, earlydrinking, dry- to off-dry white—both from the Moscato grape. See Valle d’Aosta DOC.

2–3 years (red and passito) • upon purchase (white)

La Crotta di Vegneron • Ezio Voyat

BARBERA

Although this grape can be a bit rustic, overly acidic, and may lack elegance if not grown in a suitable terroir, stunning vini da tavola, often aged in a barrique, are made in classic areas by producers who do not want to be restricted by the DOC and thus do not claim it.

Braida (Bricco dell’Uccellone) • Castello di Neive (Rocca del Mattarello)

BARBARESCO DOCG

Generally more feminine and elegant than Barolo, Barbaresco has a greater suppleness,

softer fruit, and a more obvious charm, although some producers overlap the weightier Barolo style. Produced from Italy’s greatest indigenous grape variety, Nebbiolo, these wines must be aged for a minimum of two years, one of which must be in oak or chestnut casks.

5–20 years

Produttori di Barbaresco • Ceretto • Pio Cesare • Fratelli Cigliuti • Giuseppe Cortese • Angelo Gaja • Bruno Giacosa • Piero Busso • Cantina del Glicine • Marchesi di Gresy • Moccagatta • Castello di Neive • Alfredo Prunotto • Bruno Rocca • Scarpa

CLASSIC BRUT

SPARKLING WINES

All these wines are made by the traditional method.

Upon purchase—for all regions

Lombardy Bellavista Cuvée Brut

• Bellavista Gran Cuvée pas Operé

• Berlucchi Brut Cuvée Impériale

• Berlucchi Brut Cuvée Impériale

Millesimato • Berlucchi Brut Cuvée Impériale Max Rosé • Ca’del Bosco Franciacorta Pinot

Brut • Ca’del Bosco Franciacorta pas Dose • Ca’del Bosco Franciacorta Crémant Brut •

Doria Pinot Brut, Mirabella Franciacorta Brut • Villa Mazzucchelli Brut • Villa

Mazzucchelli pas Dose

Piedmont Stefano Barbero, Luigi Bosca Brut Nature, Contratto Brut