The bottles that define Champagne: what they are, who makes them and what they cost.
The iconic bottles that define Champagne: what they are, who makes them and what they cost.
Krug's multi-vintage flagship, a blend of more than 120 wines across ten-plus years built for breadth and length.
Tasting notes: Expressive toast and brioche over stone fruit, verbena and vanilla pastry cream, the palate unctuous and creamy with a crisp lemon finish. Source: thefinestbubble.com Krug Grande Cuvee 173rd Edition.
Moet's single-vintage prestige cuvee, a Chardonnay-Pinot blend released only in declared years.
Tasting notes: Silky and sculpted: white peach and candied citrus over a smoky, saline mineral core. Source: Decanter 95 points, 2013 vintage.
A prestige cuvee created for Tsar Alexander II in 1876, now from estate, largely biodynamic fruit.
Tasting notes: Candied lemon and pollen over roasted hazelnut and vanilla, with incredible tension and chalky precision. Source: Decanter 97 points, 2013 vintage.
Bollinger's fully barrel-fermented vintage prestige cuvee, named for the great years that produce it.
Tasting notes: Marine sea-breeze and oyster-shell nose with gunpowder smoke and hazelnut, orchard fruit and fine vanilla. Source: Vinous 95 points, 2014 vintage.
Pol Roger's Pinot-dominant prestige cuvee, created to reflect the style Churchill favoured.
Tasting notes: Orange oil and confit lemon over brioche and honey, bright saline cutting apricot, mint and sage. Source: Vinous 96 points, 2013 vintage.
Taittinger's Grand Cru-only vintage Blanc de Blancs, a benchmark of the style.
Tasting notes: Citrus and white flowers over chalk, with creamy texture and saline length. Source: Vinous 96 points, 2012 vintage.
Salon's single wine, a Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs made only in declared years.
Tasting notes: Citrus and white flowers over iodine and chalk, with crystalline racy intensity and extraordinary length. Source: Vinous 96 points, 2008 vintage.
Billecart-Salmon's pale salmon-pink non-vintage rose, made by cold, slow fermentation since the 1830s.
Tasting notes: Pale salmon-pink with wild strawberry, redcurrant and white peach over saline freshness and silky texture. Source: Vinous 92 points.
Ruinart's Grand Cru-only pure-Chardonnay prestige cuvee, aged long in deep chalk crayeres.
Tasting notes: Chestnut, coconut and fresh bread over a firm, muscular, reductive structure with chalk and long flavour. Source: Vinous 95 points, 2009 vintage.
Selosse's solera-based Avize Blanc de Blancs, deeply oxidative and vinous, a benchmark grower Champagne.
Tasting notes: Dried apricot, walnut and curry spice over honey and smoke, with oxidative depth, vinous power and saline length. Source: Vinous 95 points.
Pierre Peters' single-vineyard old-vine Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs, a benchmark grower Chardonnay.
Tasting notes: Spring flowers, white fruit and citrus over marzipan, with slate and crushed-rock energy and saline length. Source: Vinous 95 points, 2013 vintage.
Veuve Clicquot's prestige cuvee, named for Madame Clicquot and drawn from historic Grand Cru plots.
Tasting notes: Dried fig, apricot and ripe pear over hazelnut, richly balanced with yellow plum and tropical lift. Source: Vinous 95 points, 2015 vintage.
High Level English Guided Cellars tours & Grand Vintage Tastings at Moet & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot. Private Day trip from Paris by Mercedes. Tiered pricing. Pick up..
Discover the Champagne region on a small-group day trip from Paris. Visit famous Champagne houses, enjoy tastings, explore Reims and Épernay, with hotel pickup included.
Private Trip from Paris by Mercedes with Hotel Pick up. English Guided Cellars visit with tastings at Moet et Chandon and Veuve Clicquot made by the Houses staff & Pom...
Wine tastings and winery visits in Champagne (62) · Wine tours and day trips in Champagne (132) · Wine tours by bike in Champagne (8)
Peak wine-travel season in Champagne is spring through autumn, with harvest the standout window.
classified-growth and grand-cru estates require booking days to weeks ahead; smaller family domaines often take walk-ins midweek.
most estates open 10:00 to 17:00 by appointment, often closed Sunday and Monday.
tipping is not expected at tastings; buying a bottle from the cellar door is the customary thank-you.
If you only open one bottle, open Krug Grande Cuvee by champagne-krug. It is the wine most associated with Champagne.
