THE HISTORY OF BLANCPAIN

ART DE VIVRE
premier crus between 90-99 and champagne
between 80-89. Thus, on the official
scale, a 99 point premier cru vineyard village
was well distinguished from one with merely
a 91 point ranking.
More than that, the rankings were done
by grape. In champagne three grapes may
be used, chardonnay, pinot noir or meunier
and, for at least chardonnay and pinot noir,
there are separate rankings of vineyards
using the 100 point scale. Thus, Chouilly’s
grand cru rating is for only the chardonnay
list; a completely separate collection of vineyards
comprises the pinot noir list. There are
nine grand cru chardonnay villages, thirteen
for pinot noir. Meunier, never rises above the
lowest level.
All Lenoble champagnes are made with
either grand cru or premier cru grapes. Indeed,
the lowest ranked vineyard used is
Anne and Antoine Malassagne.
rated at 95 points. The large houses with
their vast volumes are simply incapable of
adhering to that lofty a standard.
No matter how riveting this heretofore
seemingly state-secret list may have been,
sitting in a reception room gaping at the
finely calibrated rankings was still not the
optimal way to come to an understanding of
champagne terroir. Jumping into Antoine’s
car, it was time to traverse Épernay and head
to Chouilly. Lenoble’s two top cuvées, Les
Aventures and Le Gentilhomme both are
made exclusively from grapes grown in
Chouilly. This means that both are 100%
grand cru champagne and both are 100%
chardonnay.
First stop, one of Lenoble’s vineyards in
Chouilly, Le Vallon. Le Gentilhomme is made
of grapes from Le Vallon and Les Cités,
another nearby parcel in Chouilly. As we
walked the rows in Le Vallon a question
immediately popped to mind. Since these
are chardonnay grapes, the same as are
used in burgundy, and planted in a grand
cru parcel, what would happen, if for example,
one tried to fashion champagne out of
chardonnay grown in a burgundy grand cru
parcel such as Corton-Charlemagne? This
did not provoke a smile. Antoine, fully
expressing the same fondness for this idea
as he would have had eating week old fish
and setting a countenance pitying the profound
lack of understanding embedded in
the question, explained that great champagne
is dependent on layers of chalk and
other minerals in the soil. They give an
astringency to the wine which balances it.
White burgundy grapes would be far too
rich and heavy ever to be considered for a
fine sparkling wine (of course it is that same