Vintage

VintageChampagne

If you’re looking to celebrate a particular year, or if you have a penchant for richer-style fizz, then vintage Champagne is the answer.

What is Vintage Champagne?

Vintage Champagne is made from the grapes of just one year, or vintage. And as it is only made in superior vintages – often only three to four times every 10 years – you can be confident about quality.

How is Vintage Champagne made?

Vintage Champagne is made in exactly the same way as Non-Vintage Champagne, except that it is the product of just one year's harvest, so there will be no blending from other years, as is the case with NV fizz. as the Champagne houses don’t release them until they’ve aged from the legal minimum of three years up to a decade or more, you can expect a richer, more complex style. A further plus is that they are typically less than twice the price of their non-vintage equivalent, thus they usually represent excellent value.

Famous Vintage Champagne brands

There is a host of famous Vintage Champagne brands, such as Veuve Clicquot, Krug, Ruinart and Bollinger, all of whom have receved critical praise for the quality of their vintage fizz. But perhaps the two most iconic Vintage Champagne brands are Dom Pérignon and Cristal – both are only ever released as single vintages, and are extremely complex and ageworthy.

Did you know?

• The Cristal bottle was designed for Alex II of Russia because he was afraid of assassination. He wanted a clear bottle with a flat bottom so no bomb could be hidden in it
• The most expensive bottle of Champagne was a 1907 Heideseck that had been recovered from a shipwreck. It sold for £163,000