The iconic 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.
The first 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.
One of the most acclaimed non-vintage roses in Champagne, made by cold, slow fermentation.
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.
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.