Cuvée

Cuvée is one of the more elastic words in champagne. Technically, it refers to the first fraction of juice from pressing — the cuvée proper is the first 2,050 litres drawn from 4,000 kg of grapes (a full Champagne press, marc). The next 500 litres are the taille, considered lower quality.

Colloquially, cuvée also just means “wine” — a specific bottling released by a producer. A house may have a non-vintage cuvée (its flagship blend) and several vintage cuvées. Prestige cuvée refers to the house’s top-tier release (Dom Pérignon, Cristal, Krug Grande Cuvée, Comtes de Champagne).