You do a web search for this word and you find our article. Below we explain the meaning of Blanc de Noirs.

What does Blanc de Noirs mean?

Let's start with the meaning of Blanc de Noir. As you can imagine, this is an expression of French origin which we can translate as "white from black", where "white" refers to the light color of the wine while "black" refers to the color of the berries grapes used for wine production.

➡️ Blanc de Noir is a sparkling wine obtained from vines with black/red grapes.

This expression was introduced by Champagne producers. For their sparkling wines made from white grapes they introduced another expression: Blanc de Blanc. Given its communicative effectiveness and immediacy, the Blanc de Noirs formula was also welcomed by sparkling wine producers in the rest of the world, including Italy.

If you read Blanc de Noir on the label of a wine you know that it is a sparkling wine produced from black grapes. What are the red grapes of a Blanc de Noir sparkling wine? From which vines are Blanc de Noir sparkling wines made? For Blanc de Noirs sparkling wines, grapes from the Pinot Noir vine are used. For some Champagnes, grapes from the Pinot Meunier vine are also used.

For example, this Bollicine Blanc de Noir Nika di Volpaia, which is on sale in our online wine shop, is a Blanc de Noir, being a classic method sparkling wine obtained from Pinot Noir black grapes.

In the Italian wine scene there are Blanc de Noir sparkling wines also obtained from other black grape varieties: from Sangiovese grapes to Negroamaro grapes, passing through Nerello Mascalese grapes.

How is Blanc de Noir made?

How is it possible to obtain white or sparkling wines from black grapes? This is a question that many people ask themselves and that deserves an answer.

It is possible to produce white wines from black grapes (not just sparkling wines). Now we'll explain how. The pulp of black grapes is colorless. The substances responsible for the color of a wine are contained in the skin. For this reason, the red color of the wine is determined by the contact of the must with the skins of the black grapes.

For this reason, we can say that:

➡️ to produce Blanc de Noirs sparkling wines it is necessary to avoid or limit the contact between the skins of black grapes and the must.

If the coloring substances are in the skins of black grapes, avoiding or limiting their contact with the liquid part prevents the wine from taking on the red color of the skins. If the red color is in the skins, it is possible to produce Blanc de Noirs sparkling wines by preventing them from taking part in the actual production process, isolating them and separating them from the must. In this way, white wines/sparkling wines are obtained from black grapes.

That's all. We have explained to you all the secrets of Blanc de Noirs sparkling wines.