Champagne is Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is one of the grapes used to make Champagne. If you've ever had Pinot Noir as a table wine, this may sound strange. It's red, or purple, or at the very least it's NOT champagne colored (aka colorless). 

The reason it's possible to have a white champagne made from a red Pinot Noir grape, is because the skin of the Pinot grape is the only red part of it. The pulp is white. So when they crush the grapes, they just have to remove the skins from the pulp before fermentation to prevent that redness from getting all mixed up in the juice and turning the champagne purple. A "Blanc de Noir" (white of black) is a Champagne usually made predominantly, or entirely, from Pinot Noir.

As offensive as that might be to those of us who only drink Pinot Noir for the "live-forever" compounds found in its redness, it makes for some tasty bubbly and gives further evidence of the importance and versatility of Pinot Noir.