Comparison
Blanc de Blancs vs Blanc de Noirs
What do the two terms mean, and how does the wine differ?
The short answer
English Blanc de Blancs and English Blanc de Noirs come from the same country but sit in different territory. The main differences: English Blanc de Noirs has more body; English Blanc de Noirs has more fruit intensity; English Blanc de Noirs has more texture.
Choose
English Blanc de Blancs
Choose English Blanc de Blancs if you prefer its flavour profile — lemon, green apple, chalk.
Choose
English Blanc de Noirs
Choose English Blanc de Noirs if you want something fuller and richer, fruitier, rounder and creamier in texture.
Worth knowing
Blanc de Blancs is white wine from white grapes — Chardonnay — and tends to be leaner, finer and longer-lived. Blanc de Noirs is white wine from black grapes, pressed gently so no colour is extracted, and tends to be broader, rounder and more red-fruited. Both are white in the glass.
Where they genuinely differ
Only differences large enough to notice in the glass are listed here. A gap of half a point on a five-point scale is noise, and WineHQ does not dress it up as a finding.
Body
Clear differenceThe overall weight and viscosity of the wine in the mouth — a composite of alcohol, sugar, extract and glycerol.
English Blanc de Noirs is fuller and richer: medium against low-medium.
Fruit intensity
Clear differenceHow loudly the fruit flavours speak, independent of whether they are ripe or tart.
English Blanc de Noirs is fruitier: medium-plus against medium.
Texture
Clear differenceMouthfeel independent of weight — from lean and cutting through to creamy, waxy or velvety. Driven by lees contact, malolactic conversion, skin contact and ageing.
English Blanc de Noirs is rounder and creamier in texture: medium-plus against medium.
Where they are much the same
Just as useful: knowing which parts of the choice do not matter.
- Sweetness: Similar — both low-medium.
- Acidity: Similar — both high.
- Tannin: Similar — both low.
- Alcohol: Similar — both medium.
- Aromatic intensity: Similar — both medium.
Full side by side
| Dimension | English Blanc de Blancs | English Blanc de Noirs |
|---|---|---|
| Body | typically low-medium, ranging from low to medium (2/5) | typically medium, ranging from low-medium to medium-plus (3/5) |
| Fruit intensity | typically medium, ranging from low-medium to medium (3/5) | typically medium-plus, ranging from medium to medium-plus (4/5) |
| Texture | typically medium, ranging from low-medium to medium-plus (3/5) | typically medium-plus, ranging from medium to medium-plus (4/5) |
| Sweetness | typically low-medium, ranging from low to low-medium (2/5) | typically low-medium, ranging from low to low-medium (2/5) |
| Acidity | typically high, ranging from medium-plus to high (5/5) | typically high, ranging from medium-plus to high (5/5) |
| Tannin | low (1/5) | low (1/5) |
| Alcohol | typically medium, ranging from low-medium to medium (3/5) | typically medium, ranging from low-medium to medium (3/5) |
| Aromatic intensity | typically medium, ranging from low-medium to medium-plus (3/5) | typically medium, ranging from low-medium to medium-plus (3/5) |
| Oak influence | typically low-medium, ranging from low to low-medium (2/5) | typically low-medium, ranging from low to medium (2/5) |
| Savoury character | typically medium-plus, ranging from medium to high (4/5) | typically medium-plus, ranging from medium to medium-plus (4/5) |
| Floral character | low (1/5) | low (1/5) |
| Herbal / green character | low (1/5) | low (1/5) |
| Spice | low (1/5) | low (1/5) |
| Earthy character | low (1/5) | low (1/5) |
| Perceived freshness | typically high, ranging from medium-plus to high (5/5) | typically high, ranging from medium-plus to high (5/5) |
| Carbonation | typically high, ranging from medium-plus to high (5/5) | typically high, ranging from medium-plus to high (5/5) |
| Serve at | 9–11°C | 9–11°C |
| Typical flavours | lemon, green apple, chalk, brioche, hawthorn blossom | red apple, strawberry, brioche, toasted nuts, orchard fruit |
Values are typical points within each wine’s range. Both wines vary — see the individual pages for how much.