Krug Grande Cuvee
Producer: champagne-krug
Krug's multi-vintage flagship, a blend of more than 120 wines across ten-plus years built for breadth and length.
Price: EUR 180 to 260 at retail
France's sparkling-wine heartland, where Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grow on chalk from the Montagne de Reims and Cote des Blancs to the Cote des Bar.
Drink your way through Champagne
Map of Champagne
Every vineyard, tasting room, wine bar and cellar we cover in Champagne, pinned. Click a pin for the page.
Signature wines of Champagne
The iconic bottles that define Champagne.
Dom Perignon
Producer: champagne-moet-chandon
Moet's single-vintage prestige cuvee, a Chardonnay-Pinot blend released only in declared years.
Price: EUR 180 to 280 at retail
Louis Roederer Cristal
Producer: champagne-louis-roederer
The first prestige cuvee, created for Tsar Alexander II in 1876, now from estate, largely biodynamic fruit.
Price: EUR 250 to 380 at retail
Bollinger La Grande Annee
Producer: champagne-bollinger
Bollinger's fully barrel-fermented vintage prestige cuvee, named for the great years that produce it.
Price: EUR 110 to 160 at retail
Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill
Producer: champagne-pol-roger
Pol Roger's Pinot-dominant prestige cuvee, created to reflect the style Churchill favoured.
Price: EUR 200 to 320 at retail
Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs
Producer: champagne-taittinger
Taittinger's Grand Cru-only vintage Blanc de Blancs, a benchmark of the style.
Price: EUR 130 to 200 at retail
Vineyards to know in Champagne
A handful of the estates we send friends to when they are in Champagne.
Krug
Prestige Reims maison founded in 1843, owned by LVMH, built on a multi-vintage reserve blend across all three main grapes for its Grande Cuvee.
Signature: krug-grande-cuvee, krug-clos-du-mesnil
Moet & Chandon
The largest Champagne house, founded 1743 in Epernay and owned by LVMH, with 28 km of chalk cellars on the Avenue de Champagne and the Dom Perignon prestige cuvee.
Signature: dom-perignon, moet-imperial-brut
Louis Roederer
Family-owned Reims maison founded 1776, famous for the Cristal prestige cuvee created for Tsar Alexander II and for its estate-owned, partly biodynamic vineyards.
Signature: cristal, roederer-collection
Champagne Bollinger
Family-owned Ay house founded 1829, Pinot Noir-led with oak fermentation and a reserve of magnums; long the supplier of fictional spy James Bond's Champagne.
Signature: bollinger-special-cuvee, bollinger-grande-annee
Champagne Pol Roger
Family-owned Epernay maison founded 1849, Winston Churchill's favourite Champagne, with cool, deep cellars and a prestige cuvee named in his honour.
Signature: pol-roger-brut-reserve, pol-roger-cuvee-winston-churchill
Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin
Reims house founded 1772 and owned by LVMH, shaped by Madame Clicquot, who pioneered the riddling table; known for its Yellow Label brut.
Signature: veuve-clicquot-yellow-label, veuve-clicquot-la-grande-dame
Sub-appellations of Champagne
Montagne de Reims (Montagne de Reims/Mountain of Reims)
A forested ridge ringed by Grand Cru villages where the most powerful, structured Pinot Noir of Champagne grows on chalk above the plain of Reims.
Vallee de la Marne (Vallee de la Marne/Marne Valley)
River-valley slopes where Pinot Meunier rules, anchored by Ay and by Hautvillers, the abbey village where Dom Perignon worked.
Cote des Blancs (Cote des Blancs/Slope of the Whites)
A bright chalk slope of Grand Cru Chardonnay villages producing the most precise, long-lived Blanc de Blancs in Champagne.
Cote de Sezanne (Cote de Sezanne/Sezannais)
A quieter, riper southern continuation of the Cote des Blancs where Chardonnay turns rounder and more generous.
Cote des Bar (Cote des Bar/Aube/Barsequanais)
Rolling Kimmeridgian hills in the Aube, geologically a cousin of Chablis, where Pinot Noir and a new wave of growers drive Champagne's southern frontier.
Reims (Reims/Rheims)
A grand coronation city whose chalk cellars and avenue of maisons make it the urban gateway to Champagne.
Champagne wine, FAQ
When is the best time to visit Champagne for wine?
Peak wine-travel season in Champagne is spring through autumn, with harvest the standout window.
Do I need an appointment to taste at Champagne estates?
classified-growth and grand-cru estates require booking days to weeks ahead; smaller family domaines often take walk-ins midweek.
What hours do Champagne cellars and tasting rooms keep?
most estates open 10:00 to 17:00 by appointment, often closed Sunday and Monday.
How does tipping work at Champagne tastings?
tipping is not expected at tastings; buying a bottle from the cellar door is the customary thank-you.
What is the one wine to try in Champagne?
If you only open one bottle, open Krug Grande Cuvee by champagne-krug. It is the wine most associated with Champagne.