Côte des Blancs

The Comité Champagne places the Côte des Blancs on a north-east to south-west line across the area under vine, perpendicular to the Marne Valley, and describes it as a rolling landscape of slopes and hilltops 6 to 9 miles long. Decanter's David Taylor (2019) calls it a 20km stretch just south of Epernay. In Decanter (2020), Charles Curtis MW writes that the Côte des Blancs proper usually refers to the unbroken run of vineyards from Chouilly down to Vertus and Bergères-lès-Vertus, and that it is not homogenous: it includes the Butte de Saran, an outlier, meaning a free-standing hill that erosion separated from the central Côte, and a central portion that he describes as a cuesta of the Paris Basin: "a vast ocean of chalk capped by Brie limestone that drops off steeply to form the Côte des Blancs". Avize sits at the centre of that central portion and Cramant at its northern extremity. Cramant and Avize were the only Côte des Blancs villages ranked grand cru in the original Échelle des Crus, and Chouilly, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger and Oiry were promoted to grand cru status in 1985 (Decanter, 2020). The Comité Champagne explains that the 1 July 1952 decree reserved the term grand cru for municipalities with a 100% rating on the cru scale, and that when the INAO scrapped the scale in 2010, municipalities already designated grand cru could keep the term. Decanter (2019) places Vertus at the edge of the Côte des Blancs, and the Comité Champagne's Épernay trail notes that from Le Mont Aimé at Bergères-lès-Vertus the view takes in the Côte des Blancs and its "recognisable chalky soils".

• Length: 20km just south of Epernay (Decanter, 2019) or 6 to 9 miles (Comité Champagne); runs from Chouilly to Vertus and Bergères-lès-Vertus (Decanter, 2020)
• Geology: a Paris Basin cuesta of chalk under a Brie limestone cap, plus the Butte de Saran outlier (Decanter, 2020); the Comité Champagne says its chalk cliffs suit Chardonnay particularly well
• Grand crus: Avize and Cramant ranked originally; Chouilly, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger and Oiry promoted in 1985 (Decanter, 2020)
• The 1952 decree limited grand cru to 100%-rated municipalities; the INAO scrapped the cru scale in 2010 but let designated municipalities keep the term (Comité Champagne)

The Comité Champagne calls Chardonnay the star grape variety in the Côte des Blancs, a robust, early-ripening variety particularly well suited to terroirs on an outcrop of chalk such as the Côte des Blancs, and says it brings freshness to Champagne, giving delicately scented wines with floral and citrus notes and, at times, mineral ones. Its soil page adds that Chardonnay is mainly grown in the Côte des Blancs and the Côte de Sézanne, and that chalk, being highly porous, acts as a water reservoir for the vines. Decanter (2019) put Chardonnay at 97% of the grapes grown on the Côte des Blancs. Village character differs across the slope. In Cramant, whose vines Charles Curtis MW says can face anywhere between northeast and southwest, he writes that fruit from the lower south-facing slopes of the Butte de Saran shows less lively acidity and more aromas of ripe apricots and white flowers, closer to what he associates with Chouilly, while the steep east-facing sites toward Avize give fruit more reminiscent of ripe apples (Decanter, 2020). He also records a Cramant tradition of wines made at about half the pressure of a typical Champagne, formerly called crémant, a term the EU restricted in 1990 to traditional-method sparkling wines from named regions outside Champagne. Decanter's Tom Hewson (2026) writes that Le Mesnil's longevity "makes time an essential ingredient in almost all of the region’s blended Prestige Cuvées from the famous houses, from Taittinger’s Comtes de Champagne and Charles Heidsieck’s Blanc des Millénaires to the likes of Dom Pérignon and Cristal", and that "the flatter vineyards nearer the bottom of the Côte des Blancs are often viewed as the classical, long-lived terroirs thanks to the closeness of the chalk just beneath the surface". Paul Girard of Domaine Girard-Bonnet puts 70% of his Mon Village blend through oak, which Decanter (2026) reports he feels "a less structured, austere village such as neighbouring Vertus couldn’t take".

• Chardonnay is the star grape of the Côte des Blancs, suited to its chalk outcrop, bringing freshness and floral, citrus and sometimes mineral notes (Comité Champagne)
• Chardonnay was 97% of the grapes grown here per Decanter (2019); the Comité Champagne says Chardonnay is mainly grown in the Côte des Blancs and Côte de Sézanne
• Cramant: vines face anywhere between northeast and southwest; a low-pressure crémant tradition was renamed after a 1990 EU ruling (Decanter, 2020)
• Le Mesnil-sur-Oger: Decanter (2026) ties its longevity to the region's blended prestige cuvées, naming Comtes de Champagne, Blanc des Millénaires, Dom Pérignon and Cristal

Le Mesnil-sur-Oger is home to Salon and to Krug's Clos du Mesnil, which, Decanter (2026) says, "yield two of Champagne’s rarest blanc de blancs"; the Comité Champagne's Épernay trail points visitors in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger to views over the historic Clos du Mesnil. Salon's first wine appeared in 1905, when, Decanter writes, "the concept of a blanc de blancs was almost unheard of"; Salon uses neither oak nor malolactic fermentation and gives the wine around ten years on lees. Pierre Péters' Les Chétillons comes from the Chétillon vineyard, which sits either side of the road below Le Mesnil, and the Péters family has kept a perpetual reserve of base wines going since 1988 (Decanter, 2026). In Cramant, Decanter's Charles Curtis MW (2020) names grower-producer Anselme Selosse, whose vineyard in the Chemin de Châlons has a south-facing exposition, and lists Cramant-based producers including Diebolt-Vallois, whose top wines are fermented in used casks, and Suenen, where Aurélien Suenen took charge of the family winery in 2009. He notes that GH Mumm owns more than 17ha of vineyards in Cramant and that Perrier-Jouët now makes its Belle Epoque Blanc de Blancs only from two Cramant vineyards, Bourons Leroi and Bourons du Midi (Decanter, 2020). Decanter (2019) calls Duval-Leroy, based in Vertus at the edge of the Côte des Blancs, a sizeable house.

• Salon (Le Mesnil-sur-Oger): first wine released in 1905; no oak, no malolactic fermentation, around a decade on lees (Decanter, 2026)
• Krug Clos du Mesnil and Salon: named by Decanter (2026) as two of Champagne's rarest blanc de blancs
• Pierre Péters (Le Mesnil-sur-Oger): Les Chétillons from the Chétillon vineyard; perpetual reserve maintained since 1988 (Decanter, 2026)
• Cramant producers named by Decanter (2020) include Anselme Selosse's Chemin de Châlons vineyard, Diebolt-Vallois, Suenen, GH Mumm and Perrier-Jouët

Decanter's Tom Hewson (2026) writes that time is at the heart of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger's standing and that "the village’s wines can’t be turned around quickly". Chardonnay, the Comité Champagne says, brings freshness to Champagne, and in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger Rodolphe Péters of Champagne Pierre Péters told Decanter in 2026 that this freshness is often misread as acidity: "People mistake it for high acidity," adding, "But the freshness is driven by a crispy, electric perception from the chalk, alongside an iodine-like minerality that can feel almost metallic." Decanter reports that Péters finds the chalk "‘dryer’ here than in other villages", with more crumbling below the surface from repeated freezing and thawing. In Cramant, Charles Curtis MW describes a related process: chalk saturated with water shattered through ice-age freezing and thawing and slid downslope, building small mounds that tilt some vines north and others south (Decanter, 2020). The Comité Champagne says Blanc de Blancs are expressions of the chalky terroirs that create them and are typified by what is called minerality, felt on the palate as acidity and salinity. Decanter (2026) also reports that the Côte des Blancs is going through a second heatwave vintage in a row in 2026, which it says is "challenging its identity as the racy, restrained backbone of Champagne".

Primary sources (Comité Champagne and INAO): https://www.champagne.fr/en/about-champagne/a-great-blended-wine/the-champagne-region, https://www.champagne.fr/en/about-champagne/a-great-blended-wine/champagne-and-its-grape-varieties, https://www.champagne.fr/en/about-champagne/the-champagne-terroir/champagne-and-its-soil, https://www.champagne.fr/en/about-champagne/the-champagne-terroir/champagne-and-its-topography, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/champagne-21054, https://www.champagne.fr/en/champagne-frequently-asked-questions?nid=608, https://www.champagne.fr/en/champagne-tasting/type-of-champagne/blanc-de-blancs, https://www.champagne.fr/en/visit-champagne/the-champagne-region/champagne-wine-trails/epernay-and-its-region. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/wine-travel/france/cote-des-blancs-wineries-to-visit-417753/, https://www.decanter.com/wine/champagne/why-le-mesnil-sur-oger-yields-champagnes-of-mythical-renown/, https://www.decanter.com/premium/village-profile-cramant-champagne-438927/. Last verified 2026-09-24