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 wines: bollinger-special-cuvee, bollinger-grande-annee
Tip: The rare Vieilles Vignes Francaises comes from ungrafted, pre-phylloxera Pinot Noir vines.
Address: 16 rue Jules Lobet, 51160 Ay, France, Champagne
Family-owned Epernay maison founded 1849, Winston Churchill's favourite Champagne, with cool, deep cellars and a prestige cuvee named in his honour.
Tasting: Visits by appointment; family house on the renamed Epernay street, formerly rue Henri Lelarge.
Signature wines: pol-roger-brut-reserve, pol-roger-cuvee-winston-churchill
Tip: The street was renamed rue Winston Churchill in 2025; older sources still say rue Henri Lelarge.
Reims house founded 1772 and owned by LVMH, shaped by Madame Clicquot, who pioneered the riddling table; known for its Yellow Label brut.
Tasting: Guided cellar tours and tastings; booking required, with a Clicquot Cafe on site.
Signature wines: veuve-clicquot-yellow-label, veuve-clicquot-la-grande-dame
Tip: Madame Clicquot is credited with inventing the riddling rack and the first known vintage rose.
Epernay house founded 1811, owned by Pernod Ricard, known for the Art Nouveau anemone bottle of its Belle Epoque prestige cuvee and a Chardonnay-leaning style.
Tasting: Belle Epoque Society tastings and visits at Maison Belle Epoque; reservation required.
Signature wines: perrier-jouet-belle-epoque, perrier-jouet-grand-brut
Tip: The anemone bottle was designed by Emile Galle in 1902 and revived for Belle Epoque in 1969.
Reims house tracing to 1734 and re-acquired by the Taittinger family in 2006, Chardonnay-led with deep Gallo-Roman chalk cellars beneath the Saint-Nicaise hill.
Tasting: Guided tours of the Gallo-Roman chalk crayeres at Saint-Nicaise; booking recommended in season.
Signature wines: taittinger-comtes-de-champagne, taittinger-brut-reserve
Tip: Its cellars occupy former Gallo-Roman chalk pits and the crypt of a 13th-century abbey.
The oldest established Champagne house, founded 1729 in Reims and owned by LVMH, Chardonnay-focused and famous for its deep UNESCO-listed chalk crayeres.
Tasting: Tours of the UNESCO-listed chalk crayeres, tastings and garden visits at the redesigned 4 rue des Crayeres site.
Signature wines: dom-ruinart-blanc-de-blancs, ruinart-blanc-de-blancs
Tip: Its crayeres descend about 40 metres into Gallo-Roman chalk and are a UNESCO World Heritage feature.
Family-owned Mareuil-sur-Ay house founded 1818, celebrated for its delicate brut rose and a long, cold fermentation that yields a fresh, precise style.
Tasting: Estate visits by appointment at Mareuil-sur-Ay; family house known for cold, slow fermentation.
Signature wines: billecart-salmon-brut-rose, billecart-salmon-cuvee-nicolas-francois
Tip: Its salmon-pink Brut Rose is one of the most acclaimed roses in Champagne.
