Editing Chardonnay (section)

===Champagne===
{{See also|Champagne}}
[[File:Blanc de blanc grand Cru champagne.jpg|left|200px|thumb|A ''Blanc de Blancs'' Champagne made only from Chardonnay grapes]]
In the Champagne, Chardonnay is one of three major grape varieties planted in the region. It is most commonly found in the [[Aube]] and [[Marne (department)|Marne]] ''départments'' which, combined with Chablis, accounted for more than half of all plantings of Chardonnay in France during the 20th century. In the [[Côte des Blancs]] (white slope) district of the Marne, Chardonnay thrives on the [[chalk]] soil. The three main villages around the Côte grow Chardonnay that emphasizes certain characteristics that the [[List of champagne producers|Champagne producers]] seek depending on their house style. The village of [[Avize]] grows grapes that produce the lightest wines, [[Cramant]] makes the most aromatic, and [[Mesnil (Marne)|Mesnil]] produces wines with the most acidity. The Côte des Blancs is the only district in the Champagne region predominately planted with Chardonnay. In the four other main districts – Aube, [[Côte de Sézanne]], [[Montagne de Reims]], and [[Vallée de la Marne]] – Chardonnay lags behind Pinot noir in planting. In the outlying region of [[Aisne]], only Pinot Meunier has a significant presence. Despite being less planted, the ''Blanc de Blancs'' style of Champagne (made from only Chardonnay grapes) is far more commonly produced than ''Blanc de Noirs''. This is partly because Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier produce very coarse and heavy wines that lack the finesse and balance that Chardonnay brings to the mix. Non[[sparkling wine|sparkling]] still wine Chardonnay is produced under the [[Coteaux Champenois AOC]]. The wine is much more acidic than that of Chablis and is normally made bone-dry.<ref name="Robinson pg 106-113"/>

Despite receiving the same amount of sunshine as the Chablis region, Chardonnay grapes in Champagne rarely attain full ripeness due to the [[mean]] temperature of the region being around {{convert|10|°C|abbr=on}}, barely above the minimum average temperature needed to ripen grapes. Therefore, the Chardonnay grapes do not fully develop their fruit flavors and the still version of Champagne can taste very "un-Chardonnay"-like because of this. However, it does lessen the premium on needing to keep yields low that other wine regions battle, since not much flavor is going to develop in the grapes, anyway. Rather, the element in Chardonnay that Champagne wine-makers look for is the finesse and balance of acidity that it brings to the blend. Some flavors that can emerge from, particularly with extended time on its [[lees (fermentation)|lees]], include creamy and nuttiness with some floral notes.<ref name="Clarke pg 63-73"/>