Region · Champagne, France
Champagne
shahm-PAH-nyuh
Bubbles with a backbone
The northern limit of ripening, chalk cellars, and a method of second fermentation in bottle. Champagne is a place, not a party trick.
- citrus
- brioche
- apple
- almond
- chalk
Three grapes dominate: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier. Blanc de Blancs is all Chardonnay; Blanc de Noirs is black grapes vinified white. Most bottles are blends across villages and vintages — non-vintage is the house style, vintage is a year worth signing.
The méthode champenoise (now 'traditionnelle') means a second fermentation in this bottle, then aging on lees that give autolytic notes of bread and nut. Dosage — the sugar added at disgorgement — sets Brut Nature through Doux. Brut is the default, and drier than most people expect.
Grower Champagne (récoltant-manipulant) has opened the region to terroir talk once reserved for Burgundy. Serve in a white-wine glass, not a flute, if you want to taste it. 46–50 °F (8–10 °C), never frozen.
Vintage
NV is always a drink wine. These calls are for declared vintage bottles. 2025 is still fermenting as still wine.
| Year | Call | Character |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Hold | Hailed in the press as a great one. Not in bottle as vintage yet. |
| 2024 | Careful | Cool and wet. Few houses will declare. |
| 2023 | Hold | Too early. Wait to see who vintages. |
| 2022 | Hold | Hot. Some will declare; still years from release. |
| 2021 | Careful | Frost. Expect few vintage cuvées. |
| 2020 | Hold | Warm. Some vintage; still young if you have it. |
| 2019 | Hold | Outstanding. Keep. |
| 2018 | Drink | Generous, earlier vintage. Many are open. |
| 2017 | Careful | Frost and rain. Rarely a vintage year. |
| 2016 | Hold | Serious, still young in the best bottles. |
| 2015 | Drink | Ripe vintage Champagne, drinking. |
| 2014 | Drink | Chardonnay especially. Open. |
| 2013 | Drink | Late, classic acid. A lovely place. |
| 2012 | Drink | A true vintage year, now at a generous point. |
| 2011 | Careful | Uneven. Drink remaining; don’t hunt it. |
At the table
Service
46–50 °F (8–10 °C) in a tulip or white glass. Flutes are for the look; tulips are for the wine.
