Blanc de Noirs means “white from blacks,” which aptly describes this white sparkling wine made from the red Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes. If you have ever cut into a red grape, you’ve probably noticed that in most cases, the inside of the grape is white. Such is the case with Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The color in a red Pinot Noir wine is extracted from the skins. In order to make this Blanc de Noirs, we instead send the grapes directly into the presses and gently press the juice away from the skins, trying to minimize any color pick-up in the process. The juice is then fermented at cool temperatures to maintain the bright fruit characters of the grapes. When the wines are finished, the winemaking team carefully selects the best lots of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier to create the Blanc de Noirs blend. For this 2018 blend, we chose to add 5% of barrel fermented Pinot Noir cuvee for added depth.

This wine would be perfect with our west coast winter treat of Dungeness crab. If you can’t get Dungeness, pair with the crab of your choice. It would also be nice with a winter squash risotto.

Blend – 76% Pinot Noir, 24% Pinot Meunier Residual Sugar (Dosage) – 11.4 g/L (1.14%) Style – Brut Alcohol – 12.5% TA – 6.9 g/L pH – 3.09 Time en Tirage – 41 months Aging Potential – 3-5 years