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Top 10 blanc de blancs Champagnes

24 August 2022 By Patrick Schmitt

We list the ten best blanc de blancs from the 2022 Champagne Masters, highlighting the leading expressions of sparkling Chardonnay from the UK’s long-running, Champagne-only, professional blind-tasting competition.

PIPER-HEIDSIECK ESSENTIEL BLANC DE BLANCS

Producer: Piper-Heidsieck
Blend: Chardonnay 100%
Vintage: NV
Dosage: Extra Brut
Price Category: £50+
Approx UK Retail Price: £55
Medal: Gold

Essentiel is the name given to Piper-Heidsieck’s driest Champagnes, which fall into the Extra Brut category, which means they have a dosage of 6g/l or lower – and in this case, just 4g/l. While Essentiel has the taut, fresh sensation of a fizz with very little sugar, it also has a creamy-coffee-like character that provides depth and richness. Mingling with these traits are notes of lemon zest and grapefruit pith, grilled nuts, chalk dust and then a touch of bitter orange on the finish. A fine, pure, gently smoky, and refreshing blanc de blancs. (Patrick Schmitt MW)

BESSERAT DE BELLEFON BLANC DE BLANCS GRAND CRU

Producer: Champagne Besserat de Bellefon depuis 1843
Blend: Chardonnay 100%
Vintage: NV
Dosage: Brut
Price Category: £50+
Approx UK Retail Price: £65
Medal: Gold

A beautiful pure Chardonnay Champagne using fruit from all six grand cru villages of the Côte des Blancs, this fizz has plenty of ripe yellow fruit flavours, a touch of vanilla essence and roasted coffee, and then a refreshing tangy citrus zest edge to the finish. (Patrick Schmitt MW)

AYALA LE BLANC DE BLANCS, 2015

Producer: Champagne Ayala
Blend: Chardonnay 100%
Vintage: 2015
Dosage: Extra Brut
Price Category: £50+
Approx UK Retail Price: £61
Medal: Gold

Using Chardonnay from a selection of premier cru villages in the Côte des Blancs, this single harvest Champagne from the 2015 vintage is a fine expression of blanc de blancs. Ayala is a house known for producing very dry Champagnes, and this Extra Brut is no different, with a low dosage ensuring it’s a bright, fresh style. But there’s a creaminess to the texture that prevents it tasting hard, and a delicious array of persistent flavours, from zesty notes of lemon, along with riper characters of pineapple, followed by notes of baked bread, and crushed chalk. (Patrick Schmitt MW)

PERRIER-JOUËT BLANC DE BLANCS

Producer: Perrier-Jouët
Blend: Chardonnay: 100
Vintage: NV
Dosage: Brut Price Category: £50+
Approx UK Retail Price: £70
Medal: Gold

Quite a generous style of Blanc de Blancs with peach and pear fruit, a creamy-textured mousse, some vanilla pod and roast coffee characters and a persistent nutty and chalky finish. Persistent, fresh, but with a core of ripe Chardonnay fruit. (Patrick Schmitt MW)

CHAMPAGNE DELAMOTTE BLANC DE BLANCS 2014

Producer: Delamotte
Blend: Chardonnay: 100
Vintage: 2014
Dosage: Brut Price Category: £50+
Approx UK Retail Price: £100
Medal: Gold

A brilliant maker of pure Chardonnay Champagne, Delamotte scored highly for its chalk and toast tasting Champagne, with some creamy coffee, and layers of ripe yellow fruit and then sharper citrus notes, providing a lingering, intensely zesty finish. (Patrick Schmitt MW)

CHAMPAGNE TELMONT BLANC DE BLANCS EXTRA BRUT VINTAGE 2012

Producer: Champagne Telmont
Grape variety: Chardonnay
Abv: 12%
Vintage: 2012
Approx. retail price: £130
Medal: Gold

Long-aged on the lees, over 14 years, with a mere 5.9g/l dosage, this wine is a superb example of why Chardonnay Champagnes require extra time in the cellar before dégorgement. Produced without malolactic conversion, the wine has a mid-lemon colour with small bubbles. In a very dry style, this Champagne nonetheless displays rich, dense and concentrated golden apples with roasted nuts, acacia honey and floral notes supported by brisk acidity and elegant mousse texture. A lovely wine, layered and complex. A wine perfectly suited to a plateau de fruits de mer at a classic brasserie in Paris, or elsewhere. (Patricia Stefanowicz MW)

CHAMPAGNE CASTELNAU BLANC DE BLANCS VINTAGE 2007

Producer: Champagne Castelnau
Grape variety: 100% Chardonnay
Abv: 12%
Vintage: 2007
Approx. retail price: £75
Medal: Gold

The majority of the Chardonnay grapes for this wine are grown in the Montagne de Reims area with some grapes from the Côte des Blancs included for vitality. The resulting wine, aged for a minimum of 10 years on the lees, shows a pale yellow-gold colour with a narrow cordon. Toasty notes enliven the green and golden apple and pear fruit with white flower and toast notes. Mid-weight, the wine has racy acidity and brittle mousse texture leading onto a savoury finish with saline and chalky notes. An excellent match for cold chicken or pork escalopes. (Patricia Stefanowicz MW)

CHAMPAGNE PALMER & CO BLANC DE BLANCS

Producer: Champagne Palmer & Co
Grape variety: 100% Chardonnay
Abv: 12%
Vintage: NV
Approx. retail price: £53
Medal: Gold

This co-operative, when originally established in 1947, was based in Avize, but its members have always had more vineyards in the Montagne de Reims than in the Côte des Blancs. The origin of the brand name Palmer is a mystery, although the fantasy is that each letter stands for something that the original members aspired to in their wines: P for précision and poise, A for assemblage and amour, L for limpidité and légèreté, M for maîtrise and majesté, E for érudition and élégance, and R for recherché and raffinement, but perhaps that is only a Gallic myth? Whatever the origin of the brand name, this wine is no fantasy. With a pale lemon-green hue and narrow cordon, the wine exhibits intense passionfruit and golden apple with orange zest and tangerine notes and gentle yeast overlay. A very pretty wine, elegant, with lively acidity and nicely integrated dosage and a zesty finish. A fine choice with crustaceans prepared however one likes. Lobster Newburg comes to mind. (Patricia Stefanowicz MW)

HENRIOT BLANC DE BLANCS

Producer: Champagne Henriot
Blend: Chardonnay: 100
Vintage: NV
Dosage: Brut
Price Category: £50+
Approx UK Retail Price: £50
Medal: Champagne Master

If you like your Chardonnay smoky, then this Blanc de Blancs from Henriot will appeal greatly, with its flavours of toast, struck match and grilled lemons, complemented by hazelnuts and pear, along with orange and grapefruit zest on its persistent dry, fresh finish. (Patrick Schmitt MW)

PERRIER-JOUËT BELLE EPOQUE BLANC DE BLANCS 2012

Producer: Perrier-Jouët
Blend: Chardonnay 100%
Vintage: 2012
Dosage: Brut
Price Category: £50+
Approx UK Retail Price: £340
Medal: Champagne Master

Reaching the high point among the Blanc de Blancs in 2022 was this rare prestige cuvée expression from Perrier-Jouët, with its complex, mature aromatics of dried apple, burnt orange, honey and roasted coffee, and then flavours of hazelnut and grapefruit, lemon zest and chalk, with a texture that’s mouth-filling, but fresh and moreish too. (Patrick Schmitt MW)

About The Champagne Masters

The Champagne Masters is a competition created and run by the drinks business, and is an extension of its successful Masters series for grape varieties, such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, as well as regions like Rioja and Tuscany. The competition is exclusively for Champagne, and the entries were judged using Schott Zwiesel Cru Classic glasses supplied by Sensible Wine Services. The top wines were awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze medals according to their result, and those expressions that stood out as being outstanding received the ultimate accolade – the title of Champagne Master.

The Champagnes were judged on 10 March at London’s Coravin Wine & Bubbles Bar by Patrick Schmitt MW, Patricia Stefanowicz MW, Jonathan Pedley MW, David Round MW, Susan Hulme MW, and Siobhan Turner MW.

Please visit The Global Masters website for more information, or, to enter future competitions – giving you the chance to feature online and in print – please call +44 (0) 20 7803 2420 or email Sophie Raichura at: sophie@thedrinksbusiness.com

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