What? Red grapes making white champagne?

It seems counter-intuitive that a winemaker is able to make white champagne from red grapes. Most red wines in France are made from red grapes, and likewise, white wines from white grapes. So can a winemaker produce a white champagne using only red grapes? The answer is yes! To understand why white champagne can be made from red grapes, we need to look at the winemaking process. The red color of wine comes from prolonged contact between red grape skin and the white juice after the grape is crushed. Therefore, if you remove the red grape skin shortly after the grapes are crushed, the color of the juice can still remain white. Due to regulations, champagne producers are only allowed to make champagne with any combination of the 3 grapes of Pinot Noir (red), Pinot Meunier (red), and Chardonnay (white). They are also allowed to make 100% of the champagne from any one of those grapes. If a white champagne is produced entirely from red grapes, it is given the term ‘blanc de noir’, or ‘white of black’. The black here refers to the red grape. Another related term, ‘blanc de blancs’, is used to describe a white champagne that’s made entirely from white grapes (the Chardonnay grape).

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