Agrapart & Fils Champagne Blanc de Blancs 7 Crus NV 750ml

Agrapart describes this as its ‘entry-level’ wine, but it’s far from your normal non-vintage Champagne. A blend of premier and grand cru grapes from two different vintages, its super-fresh, lemony nose segues into a tight, steely palate with delicious stone-fruit ripeness. It’s light on its feet and very vital, with delightful juiciness balancing mineral inclusions. Very impressive.

• Country: France
• Region: Champagne
• Size: 750ml

Varietal

Champagne Blend

The sparkling wines of Champagne have been revered by wine drinkers for hundreds of years, and even today they maintain their reputation for excellence of flavor and character, and are consistently associated with quality, decadence, and a cause for celebration. Their unique characteristics are partly due to the careful blending of a small number of selected grape varietals, most commonly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. These grapes, blended in fairly equal quantities, give the wines of Champagne their wonderful flavors and aromas, with the Pinot Noir offering length and backbone, and the Chardonnay varietal giving its acidity and dry, biscuity nature. It isn’t unusual to sometimes see Champagne labeled as ‘blanc de blanc’, meaning it is made using only Chardonnay varietal grapes, or ‘blanc de noir’, which is made solely with Pinot Noir.