Few things mark a moment quite like the pop of a cork.

But Champagne is far more than a celebratory reflex. It is one of the most painstaking things we make from grapes: a wine coaxed into bubbles through a method that takes years of patient cellar work before a single bottle ever reaches your table.

That craft is what we care about here. Not the loudest label or the flashiest bottle, but the houses that have spent centuries (some of them nearly three) learning to turn Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay into something worth slowing down for.

Champagne spans a wide range of styles and prices, from an honest bottle under $40 for a Tuesday night to a prestige cuvée saved for the rare occasion that truly earns it. The art is knowing which is which. And while Champagne is the most familiar sparkling wine on the wine menu, not every sparkling wine that borrows the name actually is one (more on that in a moment).

I only drink Champagne on two occasions, when I am in love and when I am not.

- Coco Chanel

To help you find the right bottle for the right moment, we’ve gathered the best Champagne brands worth knowing—from approachable house cuvées under $100 to the prestige bottles that reward a special occasion. Here is where each one earns its place, and what makes it worth your wallet.

In a rush? No problem! Here’s our selection of the best options available right now.

BEST OVERALLVeuve Clicquot Yellow Label brut Champagne bottle

Veuve ClicquotYellow Label Brut

Yellow Label comes from the Champagne house whose widow invented riddling.

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BEST LUXURYDom Pérignon 2012 vintage Champagne bottle

Dom PérignonVintage

Dom Pérignon's Vintage says everything it needs to without raising its voice.

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BEST VALUETaittinger Brut Réserve Champagne bottle

TaittingerBrut Réserve

Taittinger is still family-run, and its brut is light, elegant and balanced.

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The 19 best Champagne in the world

#BrandBest for
1Moët & ChandonParties
2Veuve ClicquotRomantic moments
3Dom PérignonMemorable gift
4Nicolas FeuillatteFamily get-togethers
5G.H. MummFive-star dining
6Laurent-PerrierA-list events
7TaittingerElegant toast
8KrugConnoisseurs
9Pol RogerHigh-society
10BollingerBlack-tie events
11Armand de BrignacStatement celebrations
12RuinartRefined aperitifs
13PommeryEco-friendly drink
14Piper-HeidsieckRed carpets
15Louis RoedererLandmark occasions
16Perrier-JouetProposals
17Canard-DuchêneCasual toast
18Billecart-SalmonSeafood feasts
19LansonClassic aperitifs

If you want to learn more about Champagne in general and what makes it so special, we’re explaining below what exactly is Champagne. We also have a helpful guide to show you how to serve Champagne properly and the answers to our readers’ most frequently asked questions about Champagne.

Moët & Chandon

Founded in 1743, Moët & Chandon is the house most people meet first—and with good reason. Its 1,200 hectares of vines make up the largest holdings in the Champagne region, and that scale is precisely what lets Moët keep its signature style consistent bottle after bottle. The result is an approachable, fruit-forward Champagne built for sharing rather than swirling in solitude.

(It’s a popular enough brand that we keep an up-to-date list of Moët & Chandon’s prices if you’d like to see today’s options.)

Best for: weddings, engagements, and easygoing brunch gatherings.

Veuve Clicquot

With its unmistakable sunshine-yellow label, Veuve Clicquot has been making Champagne since 1772—but the heart of its story belongs to Barbe-Nicole Clicquot, the young widow (veuve) who took the house over in 1805 and invented the riddling table still used to clarify Champagne today. That mix of heritage and ingenuity shows up in the glass: a rich, toasty, Pinot Noir–led style with real backbone.

(If you’d like to go deeper on this house, read our Veuve Clicquot review.)

Best for: meaningful celebrations and a romantic picnic in the park.

Dom Pérignon

Dom Pérignon is the prestige cuvée of Moët & Chandon, named for the 17th-century Benedictine monk who became Champagne’s most enduring legend—the cellarmaster to whom the famous line “come quickly, I am tasting the stars” is attributed. What isn’t legend is the wine itself: Dom Pérignon is only ever made as a vintage, produced solely in years strong enough to deserve it and aged for the better part of a decade before release. That discipline—make nothing at all in a weak year—is exactly why it has poured at moments as storied as the wedding of Lady Diana and Prince Charles.

(See our full list of Dom Pérignon bottles and prices for more on this house.)

Best for: milestone gifts—weddings, landmark anniversaries, and achievements worth marking.

Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!

- Dom Pérignon

Nicolas Feuillatte

Nicolas Feuillatte is the best-selling Champagne in France, and the story behind that is more interesting than its modern blue label lets on. Founded in 1976, it’s the public face of a cooperative of some 5,000 grape growers—families who tend the vines themselves and pool their harvest. That structure is what keeps the wine genuinely affordable without cutting corners on where the grapes come from.

Best for: relaxed family get-togethers.

G.H. Mumm

Established in Reims in 1827, G.H. Mumm wears its red Cordon Rouge ribbon as a signature—a nod to the sash of the Légion d’honneur—and has long poured at the tables of some of the world’s finest chefs. For two decades it was also the bottle sprayed across Formula 1 podiums, a run that ended in 2019: a Pinot Noir–forward style with the structure to stand up to both haute cuisine and a champion’s celebration.

Best for: five-star dining and sporty events.

Laurent-Perrier

Founded in 1812, Laurent-Perrier is one of France’s most respected houses and a byword for art de vivre à la française. Its Chardonnay-dominant style is all finesse and lightness—pale, fresh, and dry rather than rich. The house was an early champion of low-dosage Champagne, too, which is why its Ultra Brut remains a benchmark for anyone who likes their fizz crisp and barely sweetened. Laurent-Perrier is a low-calorie Champagne brand that tastes wonderful, no wonder this is a sparkling favorite amongst fashion A-listers.

Best for: elegant apéritifs and refined gatherings.

Taittinger

Taittinger is one of the few grandes marques still owned and run by the family whose name is on the label—and that continuity shows. The house style leans on a high proportion of Chardonnay, which gives its wines their hallmark elegance and finesse: light on the nose, fine on the palate, and a genuinely smart buy for the quality in the glass.

Best for: oysters and elegant toasts.

Krug

Founded in 1843, Krug sits at the very top of the Champagne hierarchy—sometimes called the Rolls-Royce of the category. Its philosophy is singular: even the non-vintage flagship, the Grande Cuvée, is blended from more than a hundred wines drawn across a decade or more of reserves, a library few houses could match. The result is bold, layered, and full-bodied—the bottle sommeliers reach for when they want to show what Champagne can be.

Best for: connoisseurs and slow, considered tasting.

Pol Roger

Pol Roger is the house to pour if you want to celebrate like a royal. Still family-owned after more than 170 years, it holds a Royal Warrant as Champagne supplier to the British Royal Family and was served at the weddings of both William and Kate and Harry and Meghan. It was also Sir Winston Churchill’s lifelong favorite, and the house named its prestige cuvée after him. He is the source of the line every Champagne lover eventually quotes: “In victory, deserve it. In defeat, need it”.

Best for: royal-worthy apéritifs.

Bollinger

Bollinger has been James Bond’s Champagne of choice on screen since the 1970s, and the association fits: this is a serious, Pinot Noir–dominant house with a full-bodied, faintly nutty style all its own. Much of that character comes from old-school methods most houses have abandoned—fermenting in oak barrels and aging its reserve wines in magnums under cork. Still family-owned, “Bolly” to its devotees, it rewards a little patience in the glass.

Best for: black-tie events and celebratory afternoon tea.

Armand de Brignac (Ace of Spades)

There’s no pretending the gilded “Ace of Spades” bottle is subtle—part-owned by Jay-Z and LVMH, it has become shorthand for showing off. Look past the metallic finish, though, and there’s a genuine house at work: Armand de Brignac is made by Cattier, a family-run grower in Chigny-les-Roses with roots reaching back to 1763. The wine itself is a polished, fruit-forward blend. Worth knowing before you buy: a good share of the price is the bottle as much as what’s inside it.

Best for: big celebrations where the bottle is part of the spectacle.

Ruinart

Founded in 1729, Ruinart is the oldest established Champagne house in the world—and it still feels built for the curious. The house is devoted to Chardonnay, which gives its wines their signature freshness and chalky finesse, and it made the very first rosé Champagne back in 1764. Think great white Burgundy, with bubbles.

Best for: sophisticated apéritifs and intimate gatherings.

Pommery

Founded in 1858, Pommery owes its character to another pioneering widow: Madame Louise Pommery, who in 1874 created the first truly brut—bone-dry—Champagne and changed the way the world drinks it. The house has kept that reforming streak ever since, and is often credited with one of the first eco-certified Champagnes. Expect finesse and a bright, cheerful lightness in the glass.

Best for: lower-impact receptions and a leisurely Champagne breakfast.

Piper-Heidsieck

Founded in 1785, Piper-Heidsieck—“the red label”—has a long-standing knack for the spotlight, serving for decades as the official Champagne of the Cannes Film Festival. The history is just as cinematic: the house’s early bottles were poured for Marie Antoinette at Versailles, and Marilyn Monroe counted herself a devoted fan. The wine lives up to the billing—generous, fruit-forward, and built for a toast.

Best for: red-carpet moments and arts and cultural events.

Louis Roederer (Cristal)

Family-owned since 1776, Louis Roederer is one of the most quietly serious houses in Champagne—and one of the most forward-thinking. It farms a large share of its own vineyards biodynamically, a rare commitment that gives it unusual control over quality from the ground up. Its famous prestige cuvée, Cristal, was created in 1876 for Tsar Alexander II and is still made only in the strongest vintages: full-bodied, precise, and built to age.

Best for: landmark occasions that deserve a great bottle.

Perrier-Jouet

A favorite bubbly of Europe’s finest since 1811 (from Baudelaire to Princess Grace of Monaco).

Founded in 1811, Perrier-Jouët has always kept close company with art. Its Belle Époque bottle—hand-decorated with the white Japanese anemones designed by Art Nouveau master Émile Gallé in 1902—is one of the most beautiful in the category, and the Chardonnay-led wine inside is every bit as delicate: floral, fine, and quietly romantic.

Best for: proposals and art-filled celebrations.

Canard-Duchêne

Founded in 1868 from the marriage of cooper Victor Canard and winemaker’s daughter Léonie Duchêne, Canard-Duchêne has long been the value pick for people who care about what’s in the glass. Its Pinot Noir–led style is the house signature—full of character, fresh, and finely judged—at a price that leaves room to open a second bottle.

Best for: celebratory toasts and casual apéritifs.

Billecart-Salmon

Founded in 1818, Billecart-Salmon is one of the rare grandes marques still owned by its founding family, now seven generations in. That independence shows in the patient, low-and-slow fermentation the house is known for, which yields Champagnes of real delicacy—its pale salmon-pink rosé chief among them.

Best for: seafood feasts and romantic apéritifs.

Lanson

Founded in 1760, Lanson is one of Champagne’s oldest houses, and it has held onto a defining quirk: it skips malolactic fermentation, the step most houses use to soften acidity. The payoff is a famously fresh, crisp, citrus-bright style—its Black Label the timeless benchmark.

Best for: classic apéritifs.

How to serve Champagne

Champagne is best served cool (not ice-cold), ideally between 8 and 10°C. Once you’re ready to enjoy your Champagne, fill an ice bucket for 15-20 minutes with ice and one-third water. The best glasses to serve Champagne are flute or tulip-shaped glasses (the latest being the favorite among many Champagne houses and sommeliers), which help accentuate the aromas and direct bubbles upwards.

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What exactly is Champagne?

Champagne, by definition, is a sparkling wine produced (grown, fermented, and bottled) exclusively in the eponymous Champagne region in the north of France. The Champagne region is centered around three main towns, namely Reims, Épernay, and Aÿ.

To earn the right to call itself Champagne, a bottle of bubbly must also meet the Appellation d’Origine Controlée or AOC standards.

Strictly speaking, if it’s a bubbly wine from another region (even though it can be made with the Méthode Champenoise), it’s a sparkling wine, not Champagne—the name Champagne is protected by EU law. Note that some American and British sparkling wines use the word champagne (with a lowercase “c”) to denote a sparkling wine that is similar to Champagne, but not from the Champagne region.

All Champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is Champagne

Even French sparkling wines from other regions in France are not technically Champagne but are labeled as Cremant. Sparkling wines from other parts of the world are simply labeled sparkling wine. Prosecco from Italy, Cava from Spain, and Sekt from Austria and Germany are some of the most popular sparkling wines.

Generally speaking, however, for many people, champagne is just synonymous with sparkling wine.

Grape varietals

Real Champagne must be produced with approved grape varietals: Pinot Noir (black grape), Pinot Meunier (black grape), and Chardonnay (white grape) being by far the most commonly used grapes in champagnes. Other approved grapes include Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Petit Meslier, and Arbane.

Types of Champagne

The primary types of Champagne are Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs, and Rosé, indicating the varieties and the colors of the grapes used.

Blanc de Blancs means the champagne is made using 100% Chardonnay; its light and dry taste make this type of Champagne a popular choice for apértifs.

Blanc de Noirs are white champagnes made from the black grape varieties of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Blanc de Noirs Champagnes tend to be richer and full-bodied.

Pink or Rosé champagnes are produced by adding a small amount of Pinot Noir (traditional method) or by pressing the grape skins (maceration method).

Vintage vs Non-Vintage Champagne

Most champagnes are non-vintage (NV), meaning they are made from a blend of wines made from grapes from different years, as opposed to one year’s harvest for vintage (V) or millesimé Champagne (with the year indicated on the label).

Vintage Champagnes typically reflect the qualities of a single year. Each Champagne house decides whether it will produce a Vintage Champagne in any given year. Non-Vintage Champagnes, on the other hand, reflect a signature house style that tastes consistent year after year.

Dosage: Sweetness levels in Champagne

The addition of sugar in Champagne is called dosage. Champagnes range from Zero Dosage or Brut Nature (no added sugar), through to Extra-Brut, Brut, Extra-Dry, Sec, Demi-Sec, and Doux (containing 50 grams or more of sugar per liter). The most popular Champagne are Extra-Brut, Brut, and Demi-Sec. If you are looking for the best sweet champagnes, you should opt for champagnes labeled as Doux (the sweetest classification) like Veuve Clicquot Rich Blanc.

Which Champagne has less sugar?

When it comes to Champagne with the lowest sugar content, opt for Brut or Extra Brut, or better even Brut Nature / Brut Zero (no added sugar).

DosageResidual Sugar
Brut Nature0-3g/L
Extra Brut0-6g/L
Brut0-12g/L
Extra Dry12-17g/L
Dry17-32g/L
Demi Sec32-50g/L
Doux50+g/L

What is Prestige Cuvée Champagne?

A Champagne House’s prestige cuvées (or Têtes de Cuvée in French) are the best-of-the-best Champagne, typically made from the finest grapes in Champagne’s best vineyards.

Prestige Cuvée champagnes are often considered the Champagne house’s 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 (‘Probably the finest Champagne in the world’, according to James Bond in Casino Royale)
  • RSRV Cuvée Lalou, G.H. Mumm
  • La Grande Dame, Veuve Clicquot
  • Dom Ruinart, Ruinart
  • Sir Winston Churchill, Pol Roger
  • Palmes d’Or, Nicolas Feuillatte

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What is the best Champagne for mimosas?

Using the Moëts and the Bollingers of the world for mimosas (aka the quintessential brunch cocktail) can be considered sacrilegious by some, indulgent by others.

Many fizz enthusiasts will agree on this, however: the best Champagne for mimosas (or any Champagne cocktails for that matter) isn’t necessarily genuine Champagne—Instead, opt for more affordable dry sparkling wines such as Spanish Cava, Italian Prosecco or French Cremant. These fresh, fruity styles of bubbly mix well with juice.

What is the most expensive brand of champagne?

The usual answer is Goût de Diamants’ Taste of Diamonds, a one-off bottle made to order for a private client and priced by its makers at £1.2 million, or roughly $1.8 million. Treat that as the maker’s own claim rather than an auction result, because the bottle was never publicly sold.

What justifies the number is the packaging as much as the wine. Designer Alexander Amosu handcrafted the label in solid white gold and set a single deep-cut white diamond at its center. Inside is a Grand Cru blend from the Chapuy family’s cellars.

Frequently asked questions about Champagne

What is not champagne?
Sparkling wines that are not produced in the Champagne region in France are technically not Champagne. Sparkling wines may be made with the same grapes as Champagne or an entirely different blend.
What is the difference between Champagne and sparkling wine?
In doubt, your safest bet is to call it just that: sparkling wine. Sparkling wine refers to all wine that, well, sparkles. If the wine has bubbles, it’s sparkling wine. A protected designation of origin, Champagne only refers to sparkling wine produced in the Champagne region in France and made according to the ‘methode champenoise’ guidelines.
What is the difference between Champagne and Cremant?
Crémant refers to French sparkling wine made in France but not in the Champagne region.
Is real champagne only from France?
The short answer is yes. To be called Champagne, a sparkling wine must be produced in the Champagne region of France. Check out our list of the best champagne in the world for a taste of real Champagne.
What does Cuvee Champagne mean?
In its literal translation, the French term “cuvée” is derived from the word “cuve” which means “tank”. The term “cuvée” for Champagne essentially refers to a blend of wines or grapes from specially selected barrels or vats that will be bottled.
Is Prosecco champagne?
No, Prosecco is technically not Champagne. Champagne is a sparkling wine made in the Champagne region in France, while Prosecco is from Italy. Prosecco can be sparkling (“spumante”), semi-sparkling (“frizzante”), or still (“tranquillo”) wine and is made primarily with Prosecco (aka “Glera”) grapes.
What is grower Champagne?
Grower Champagne is sparkling wine crafted by grape growers and their families.

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