How To Choose What Champagne Or Sparkling Wine To Buy
To gather our lists of recommendations, we consulted our panel of experts and looked at expert lists of best Champagnes, sparkling wines, cavas, proseccos, crémants, and more from Wine Enthusiast Magazine, Food and Wine, , Wine Folly, The New York Times, and The Chicago Tribune. If you feel overwhelmed in the store or while searching online, here are some things to keep in mind.
Types Of Champagne Producers
There are 3 main varieties of Champagne producers:
What Is Prestige Cuve Champagne
A Champagne Houses prestige cuvées are the best-of-the-best Champagne typically made from the finest grapes in Champagnes best vineyards.
Prestige Cuvée champagnes are often considered the Champagne houses pinnacle of achievement. Prestige cuvées often have their own names.
The most popular prestige cuvée are:
- Dom Pérignon, Moët & Chandon
- Cristal, Louis Roederer
- Comtes de Champagne, Taittinger
- Grand Cru, GH Mumm
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Best Overall: Nude Stem Zero Champagne Flute
Drinking sparkling wine during celebratory occasions, according to Colbert, almost always calls for crystal flutes. Just like a brandy snifter focuses aromas, the shape of the flute allows the wine to be funneled to the back of your palate, creating a longer finish that some may prefer, she says. Plus, you can fit more flutes on a tray compared to coupes or all-purpose wine glasses, which is ideal for serving larger groups.
Turkish glassware brand NUDE does an excellent job of maximizing the function of a flute. Their Stem Zero collection is known for its incredibly fine, yet extremely durable lead-free crystal . This particular silhouette features a slightly tapered mouth, designed to optimize flavor and effervescence. With a 10-ounce capacity, these glasses are dishwasher safe.
Best Way To Chill Champagne
Follow our tips for chilling your champagne to make sure you serve it at the right temperature and maximise the flavour:
- Plan ahead Put your champagne in the fridge for at least a couple of hours before you plan to serve it. If youre chilling lots of bottles at once, youll need longer.
- Chill with ice and water If your fridge is full, an alternative way to chill your bottles is to place them in a container filled with ice and water this works better than ice alone.
- Use your freezer as a backup If you forget to chill it in advance, you can pop the bottle into the freezer for 20 minutes as a last resort. Just remember to set a timer.
- Dont serve it straight from the fridge Unless you prefer your champagne really cold, take the bottle out 10 minutes before serving, as the taste and aroma will be stunted if the champagne is too cold.
Discover the best wine coolers with our expert guide.
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Most Versatile: Sello 2 Wine Preservation System
Preservation meets dripless pouring in Sellos ultra-preserving bottle topper. This device can be used on any bottle, really, from still wines to sparkling as well as spirits bottles, though of course preservation of spirits is not quite as necessary as it is for wine. Essentially, Sello snaps into the neck of the bottle using cartridges to absorb both oxygen and excess moisture inside. This set comes complete with one Sello device and 12 cartridges.
Good to Know:
If youve got leftover Prosecco or other sparkling wine thats lost its bubbles , Bruton has a helpful tipcook with it. Mionettos Prestige Prosecco DOC Treviso Brut, for example, helps to brighten many different dishes. actually perfect because the balanced acidity will lighten up any dish, salad dressing, et cetera. I suggest throwing a few splashes into a creamy risotto.
The Best Champagnes Over $150
For most people, drinking a glass of Champagne from a bottle that costs upwards of $150 is a once-in-a-lifetime if ever event. As prices climb, there will be more vintages. Prized wines are made with more care and are aged longer, so they come in smaller batches. Rarity increases the price.
Producers also make bottles that are meant to be stored before they’re savored. That’s not true of every expensive Champagne, but if you’re spending a lot, you’ll want to ensure you’re drinking it at the best time. To see just how out-of-control prices can get, check out some of the world’s most expensive Champagnes.
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How To Recycle Champagne Bottles
Glass bottles can usually go in your household recycling bin. If your council doesnt accept them, you can take them to a local bottle bank.
The recycling process can vary depending on where you live, so make sure to check with your local area if bottles require rinsing first and whether metal screw caps should be replaced or recycled separately.
Natural corks cant go in your recycling bin. You can recycle natural corks through Recorked UK either by posting them or dropping them off at your nearest collection point.
Synthetic corks, which are made of plastic, cant be recycled. They should be disposed of in your general waste bin.
Ruinart Champagne Blanc De Blancs
Champagne wines that are comprised of 100% Chardonnay grapes are called “Blanc de Blancs,” which means it is a white wine made of white grapes. Ruinart, the oldest established Champagne house, is home to five miles of cavernous, stunningly beautiful chalk cellars beginning some 124-feet below ground and dug entirely by hand. All told, the cellars reveal more than 20 caves, and in 2015 were classified as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.
The caves sit beneath the streets of Reims, one of three main towns that make up the triumvirate of the Champagne region. The other two towns are Épernay and Aÿ. For the Blanc de Blancs, Premier Cru vines from the Côte des Blancs produce a crisp bubbly, teeming with bright lemon peel, ripe yellow apple, poached pears, ginger spices, brioche, and a smoky flinty mineral finish.
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How To Pair Champagne With Food
Champagne on its own is quite an indulgence. But if youre looking to pair it with a snack or a meal, you might as well dive headfirst into decadence. As an appetizer, sip on Champagne alongside a soft French cheese like a baked, triple-cream brie with toasted pecans on top. For entrees, anything salty or fried will balance the acidity in the wine nicely. Try it with fried oysters or smoked salmon if youre a seafood lover, or crispy fried chicken or stuffed mushrooms for a thoroughly enjoyable culinary experience. For dessert, avoid overly sweet dishes as theyll compete with the dryness of the Champagne. Alternatively, pair like-with-like and pop a Demi Sec or Doux bottle.
See All Of Our Champagne Coverage Below!
Vessels For Your Celebratory
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Liquor / Chloe Jeong
When considering the best glasses for drinking Champagne or other sparkling wines, flutes come to mind for most, followed closely by coupes. But some wine experts might tell you otherwise. encourage the fizziness and quick development of the bubbles,” explains Guillaume Roffiaen, Chief Winemaker of Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte. “They are too vertical and narrowthere is simply not enough room left for the aromas to develop and no room to put your nose in it.” Felicia Colbert, a sommelier in Washington, D.C., takes a more lax approach. Ultimately, there is no right or wrong glass,” she says. Colbert notes that understanding what each glass adds or takes away from your wine drinking experience is key. With this in mind, here are the best Champagne glasses for every occasion.
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Best Worth The Hype: Dom Prignon Vintage
Region: Champagne, France | ABV: 12.5% | Tasting Notes: White flowers, Aniseed, Spicy notes
Iconic Champagne brand Dom Pérignon, the prestige cuvée from Moët & Chandon, only produces vintage-dated bottles, all of which are aged up to seven years prior to release. This 2008 bottling marks one of the best years in champagne-making: in a year of overcast skies, the start of harvest had opened up the weather, resulting in strong vines and riper grapes than usual.
This complex Champagne offers both warmth and freshness. Opening up with white flowers, citrus and stone fruit, it’s enhanced by aniseed and crushed mint with aromas of spicy, woody and roasted notes.
Region: Champagne, France | ABV: 12% | Tasting Notes: Intense, Yellow apple, Toasty finish
A top Champagne house with utterly strict standards, Salon makes vintage-dated chardonnay onlyno blending involved. It declares a vintage in years when the growing season produces exceptional wine. As of June 2020, only 40 vintages have been produced since 1905.
The 2007 vintage has proven to be an especially dynamic one Intense, mineral-driven, and just-bloomed white floral notes, with rich yellow apple, citrus peel and a flinty, toasty finish. Drink this Champagne today, and it will still age for years.
Why Is Champagne So Expensive
Champagne is a costly wine to produce. The raw materials are the most expensive in France. Most champagne houses dont own nearly enough vineyards to provide for their needs so they have to buy in grapes from small growers. This demand pushes up the price.
The region Champagne has a climate very similar to southern England so these precious grapes dont get terribly ripe. The resulting wines low in alcohol and high in acidity are not yet delicious but perfect for turning into sparkling wine.
The process where base metals are turned into sparkling gold involves blending the still wines, usually from different vintages and vineyards all over the region, into a house style. The resulting blend is then bottled with a mixture of wine, yeast and sugar, sealed, and left to ferment a second time. The result is those magic bubbles of carbon dioxide.
But this secondary fermentation also produces flavours of toast, nuts and yeast the flavours we most associate with champagne. Its left in this state for a minimum of 15 months . The yeast is then removed, the wine corked, and it is ready to sell, though the best wines are kept longer. All of this takes time and money.
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M& s Louis Vertay Brut Nv Champagne
£17 for 75cl, vegan and vegetarian
Notes of red apples and brioche make for a rounded and versatile Champagne, according to M& S. But was it favoured by our expert judges?
Find out whether it’s worth a trip to your local M& S – join Which? to unlock our test results
Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Ocado.
Best Food To Have With Champagne
We asked our experts for their tips when matching food with champagne:
- If you like it hot, serve with spice Fizz accentuates chilli, so a glass of champagne pairs well with hot, spicy dishes
- Pair with vegetarian food Champagne tends to work better with vegetarian dishes, as opposed to heavier meaty options
- Consider sweetness Dry champagnes are easier to match with food. Sweeter wines such as prosecco are best served without food.
- Smoked salmon and champagne The popular pairing of champagne with smoked salmon may be influenced more by status rather than taste, as historically both were considered expensive luxuries. As long as you choose a dry style of champagne, it’s not a bad match.
They also pointed out it’s a great drink to have without food , so works well as a starting point for festivities before you move on to mellower options with your meal.
For more advice on which wines to pair with your favourite foods, see our expert guide to matching food and wine.
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Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte Rserve Exclusive Brut Nv
Known for producing high-quality Champagne at a value, this is one of the most recognizable labels out there. The final blend for this non-vintage cuvée could arguably be a real snapshot of Champagne as a wholerelying on 150 separate sources from “every inch of the region,” according to the house. The blend also combines all three grape varieties planted throughout ChampagnePinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay.
Nicolas Feuillatte also produces a high-end “prestige cuvée” called Palmes d’Or, which is always vintage-dated. The 2006 Palmes d’Or took advantage of one of the best years of the 21st century. Many houses produced a vintage-dated Champagne in 2006, which is marked by ripeness and power due to very hot conditions in the summer, but supremely balanced with lively acidity thanks to a cool August. The Réserve Exclusive Brut is quite zippy, with toasty brioche and lemon curd notes, deep golden apples and a nougat finish. Building on that, the Palme d’Or shows deeper fruit intensity, leaning toward tropical ripeness, balanced by pronounced crushed chalk minerality.
Best Under $: Pol Roger Brut Rserve
Image Source / Wine.com
Region: Champagne, France | ABV: 12.5% | Tasting Notes: Tropical fruit, Jasmine, Acacia honey
Pol Roger is one of the most iconic labels in Champagne, and the Brut Réserve is one of its best offerings: it combines equal parts pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay from 30 Cru vineyards in Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne, Épernay and the Côte des Blancs. Blended with 25% reserve wines, the Champagne is astounding, powerful and seductive, with abundant bubbles and fervent aromas of tropical fruits, honeysuckle, jasmine, quince, apricot jam, and candied citrus peel with a dramatic baking-spice, vanilla bean and acacia honey finish.
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The Best Sparkling Ros Over $50
Just like other Champagnes, you can find bottles of rosé that cost hundreds of dollars, including Krug and Dom Perignon. Vintages and some cuvées will cost more, because winemakers take more care with them, and some of them are aged for longer. For under $100, there are lots of delicious choices from Champagne, as well as many sparkling rosés from elsewhere.
Morrisons Adrien Chopin Champagne
£19 for 75cl, vegan and vegetarian
Morrisons Adrien Chopin champagne earned a Best Buy in our 2020 taste test. But champagnes change each year, so there’s no guarantee that it scored as well in this year’s test.
Did it impress for a second year running? Join Which? to unlock our test results.
Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Morrisons.
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Morrisons The Best Brut Premier Cru Champagne
£21 for 75cl, vegan and vegetarian
Morrisons claims its Premier Cru champagne is noticeably richer and more elegant than standard blends, with ‘fine bubbles, intense flavours and a long refined finish’. So was it crowned a Best Buy?
For our full verdict, join Which? to unlock our test results.
Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Morrisons.
What Is The Best Cheap Champagne To Buy
To find the best values in authentic French Champagne, look to smaller wineries rather than prestige houses. Many connoisseurs prefer grower Champagne or farmer fizz made by Champenoise families who grow their grapes and bottle their own Champagne. Total Wine & Mores buyers visit Champagne countryside regularly to discover incredible values in Champagne, including Chateau LaForge, Comtesse Gerin, and Champagne GF Duntze.
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How Do You Estimate How Many Bottles Of Champagne You’ll Need For Mimosas For A Party
The easiest way to determine how many drinks to make for a crowd is to figure out how many people will be drinking and the average number of drinks each guest will have. Then, based on your mimosa recipe, youll be able to estimate the amount of sparkling wine and orange juice youll need, but be sure to have a few extra bottles on hand in case any of your guests end up thirstier than anticipated.
How Is Champagne Made
Champagne starts as a still wine blendusually Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunierand it develops bubbles during a process called Methode Champenoise or the Champagne method.
Heres the most common way of making Champagne:
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