Ruinart has announced that its 2026 Sommelier Challenge will focus on rosé champagne, turning industry attention towards one of the appellation's most significant style categories.
A champagne producer in the Aube has moved into organic vegetable farming following the catastrophic 2019 vintage, signalling a broader shift in how growers are adapting to vineyard adversity.
Maison Taittinger has launched a cellar visit designed for multigenerational visitors, marking a deliberate shift in how champagne tourism presents itself to a broader public.
A single grand cru village on the south bank of the Marne, historically the most celebrated Pinot Noir site in Champagne and the home of Bollinger, Deutz and Ayala.
The southern and most distinctive of champagne's sub-regions, more than 100 km from Reims and better known for its Pinot Noir and the rise of grower champagne.
A chalk-rich ridge south of Épernay planted almost exclusively to Chardonnay, famous for the region's most precise blanc de blancs.
The largest and most structurally complex of champagne's four main viticultural massifs, a Pinot Noir heartland circling the forested plateau between Reims and Épernay.
The largest city of the Champagne region, a cathedral seat and the historic home of many of the region's most celebrated houses.
A long band of vineyards following the Marne west of Épernay, best known as the home of Meunier — and of Hautvillers, where Dom Pérignon lived and worked.
The blending of base wines — from different villages, grape varieties, and sometimes different vintages — into the cuvée that will undergo second fermentation.
The slow enzymatic breakdown of spent yeast cells during extended lees ageing, releasing amino acids, mannoproteins and esters that build the bread, brioche and savoury notes characteristic of long-aged champagne.
A champagne made exclusively from white grapes — in practice, 100% Chardonnay. Known for precision, linearity and long ageing potential.
A white champagne made entirely from black grapes — Pinot Noir, Meunier, or a blend of the two — pressed carefully to avoid colour extraction.
The driest commercial category of champagne — no liqueur d'expédition added at disgorgement and a maximum 3 g/L of residual sugar. Also labelled 'Zéro Dosage', 'Dosage Zéro', 'Pas Dosé' or 'Non Dosé'.
The dosage register for champagnes with no more than 12 g/L of residual sugar — the volume category for the appellation and the dosage for almost every NV flagship (Moët Impérial, Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label, Pol Roger Brut Réserve, etc.).
