Blanc de blancs 2019, Top Block chardonnay
Chalk and lemon.
Pure chardonnay from the highest rows on the hill, five years on lees in the cellar beneath it. The clearest glass of the house style.
Ember Hill · Pokolbin
Buy the Blanc de Blancs 2019
Chardonnay from the Top Block. Lemon pith, brioche, a long chalky finish.
- Grapes
- 100% chardonnay
- On lees
- Five years on lees
- Dosage
- Brut, 6 g/L
- Alcohol
- 12%
$68 a bottle, 750ml
18+ only. An adult signs for every delivery.
Tasting note
Our blanc de blancs, in the glass
Blanc de blancs means white from whites: a sparkling wine made only from white grapes. Ours is 100% chardonnay from the Top Block, the 2019 vintage, and it is the wine we pour first when someone asks what Ember Hill tastes like.
It is pale gold with a fine, steady bead. The nose opens on lemon pith and white flowers, then the five years on lees come through as fresh brioche and a little toasted almond. In the mouth it is taut and dry, with the lemon carrying through to a long finish that feels chalky, almost like the rock under the vines. Brut at 6 g/L, so there is just enough dosage to round the acid without softening it.
Open it young and it is bright and clean. Give it time in the glass and the bread and nut notes grow, which is a good reason to pour it into a white wine glass rather than a narrow flute.
The wine
Blanc de Blancs 2019 in figures
- Grapes
- 100% chardonnay, Top Block
- Vintage
- 2019
- Time on lees
- Five years on lees
- Dosage
- Brut, 6 g/L
- Alcohol
- 12%
- Price
- $68 a bottle
The vineyard
The Top Block, just under the ridge
The Top Block is the highest part of our slope in Pokolbin, the rows of chardonnay that run along just below the ironstone ridge the house is named for. Helen Marsh planted it in 1971. Every grape in this wine comes from those rows.
We pick it by hand in January, before dawn, while the bunches are cool and the acid is still high. In a warm region like the Hunter that early pick is what gives a blanc de blancs its line. The bunches go whole to the press, and only the cleanest juice goes into this cuvée.
In the cellar
Five years on lees
After the first fermentation the chardonnay is bottled with yeast and sugar under a crown seal, and the second fermentation happens in that bottle. Then it rests on its lees in the cellar under the hill for five years. That long contact with the spent yeast is where the brioche comes from, and it is why the bubbles feel fine and creamy rather than sharp.
When it is ready, every bottle is turned by hand on the riddling racks until the lees sit in the neck, then disgorged, topped with a dosage of 6 g/L and corked. You can see each of those stages on the riddling room tour, or read through them on the method page.
Why five years and not three? Chardonnay is slow to show what the lees can do. Early on the wine is mostly lemon and blossom; given longer, the bread and nut catch up, and the acid is still there to carry them. Daniel Marsh, our chief winemaker, tastes the bottles through their time in the cellar and decides when the wine is ready to disgorge.
The rock under the vines, and five years of patience above it.
Food, serving and cellaring
How to drink it
This is the cuvée for oysters. The salt and the lemon meet halfway, and the Port Stephens oysters at Lees on a Saturday or Sunday are the obvious place to try it. It is just as good with crudo, prawns, a soft goat's cheese or a plate of fried whitebait.
Serve it at about 8°C: a few hours in the fridge, or 20 minutes in a bucket of ice and water. It is ready to drink now. Laid on its side somewhere cool and dark it will keep for a few years, gaining toast as the citrus softens.
If you want a fuller, rounder glass from the same cellar, the Blanc de Noirs is its opposite number, made only from black grapes. In a cellar door tasting the Blanc de Blancs is poured alongside a glass of base wine from tank, so you can taste what five years in the bottle does to a plain, sharp young wine.
Questions
What blanc de blancs means, and how to drink it
What does blanc de blancs mean?
Blanc de blancs is French for white from whites. It means a sparkling wine made only from white grapes, which in practice almost always means chardonnay. Ember Hill's Blanc de Blancs is 100% chardonnay from the Top Block in Pokolbin, made by the traditional method with its second fermentation in the bottle. It is the leanest and most citrus-led of our four cuvées.
How long is the Ember Hill Blanc de Blancs aged on lees?
The 2019 Blanc de Blancs spends five years on lees in the cellar under the hill before it is disgorged. Over that time the spent yeast slowly breaks down in the bottle and gives the wine its brioche and toasted almond, and a finer, creamier bead. It is then riddled by hand, disgorged and given a brut dosage of 6 g/L before it is corked.
Is blanc de blancs dry or sweet?
Ours is dry. It is brut, with a dosage of 6 g/L, which sits at the drier end of the brut range, under 12 g/L. Chardonnay picked early in the Hunter keeps a lot of natural acid, so the small amount of sugar balances the wine rather than making it taste sweet. If you prefer it drier still, try the Blanc de Noirs at 3 g/L or the Late Disgorged at 0 g/L.
What food goes with blanc de blancs?
Blanc de blancs is the classic match for oysters, because the wine's citrus and chalky finish meet the brine. It also works with raw fish, prawns and scallops, soft fresh cheeses, fried food and salty starters. With five years on lees our 2019 has enough brioche and nut to sit beside a simple roast chicken too. Lees serves Port Stephens oysters at weekends from noon to 4pm.
How should I serve the Blanc de Blancs?
Serve it at about 8°C. A few hours in the fridge gets it there, or 20 minutes in an ice bucket filled with ice and water. Open it gently, holding the cork and turning the bottle, so it sighs rather than pops. A tulip or white wine glass shows the brioche and lemon better than a narrow flute, and leaves room for the aroma to build.
How much is the Blanc de Blancs and how do I buy it?
The 2019 Blanc de Blancs is $68 a bottle. You can add it to your cart on this page or buy it at the cellar door, open daily from 10am to 5pm. Delivery is free on 6 bottles or more to NSW, the ACT, Victoria and Queensland, and on 12 or more anywhere in Australia. Club members save 15 to 25% on every order.
Taste it beside the other three
A cellar door tasting pours all four cuvées and a glass of base wine from tank. Daily, on the hour, 10am to 4pm, $20.