Though I can recall a mid-2010 chat with a luxury champagne CEO bemoaning the endless one-upmanship over lees ageing: “9 years, 10 years, 12 years, 100 years—it becomes a competition”, extended lees ageing is now almost de rigueur. Late-released cuvées like Bollinger R.D. (the OG), or Dom Pérignon Oenothèque (now rebranded Plénitudes)—aged extra years on lees (dead yeast cells) to gain complexity and texture—are one thing. However, now even standard vintage or prestige cuvées spend close to a decade on lees before release. Early adopters like Henriot’s Hemera or Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires used to be outliers. Look for Thiénot Cuvée Stanislas, Lanson le Vintage as well as efforts from growers, who did not have the resources before for this kind of extended ageing, like Franck Pascal Quinte Essence, Diebolt-Vallois Fleur de Passion, Fleury Boléro, Pascal Doquet’s single-site wines and Corbon Avize Grand Cru or, for impressive value, the vintage from cooperative Le Brun de Neuville.

Even as the still wine world talks of reducing new oak in favour of more neutral vessels, Champagne seems increasingly enamoured with wood. The oak-driven “it” wine is Henri Giraud’s MV cuvée—formerly, and appropriately, called Fût de Chêne—which comes wrapped in the sweet, cedary tones of local Argonne forest oak. Other oak-fermented wines on the rise come from Philipponnat (1522) and Drappier (Grand Séndree) along with growers like Larmandier Bernier, Diebolt-Vallois, De Sousa and Pascal Doquet. Ironically, the wines often cited as paragons of the “oaky style” are made in neutral barrels for gentle oxygenation, like Krug and Bollinger. More ironically, Billecart Salmon, known for its lightness, is the fourth largest barrel consumer in Champagne, but cool fermentation keeps the style bright and fruit-forward. Meanwhile, Cristal and Comtes de Champagne, famously pure and vertical, have some elements fermented or aged in new oak depending on the vintage. One beloved wine that will likely remain oak-free indefinitely? Salon.  

On the other hand, some of the most impressive, long-lived cuvées in the selection this year were also made entirely without oak. Henriot’s Hemera, fermented and stored in small stainless steel tanks before bottling and Charles Heidsieck’s glorious Blanc de Millénaires, have emerged from their long sojourn on lees dewy and fresh thanks to protective handling.

Though we did have one cracking pure Meunier in the lineup from Maurice Choppin and Françoise Bedel’s Entre Ciel et Terre has a high level of the region’s “third grape”, there were fewer all-Meunier cuvées among my samples this year and fewer have ended up in this year’s line-up, along with Blanc de Noirs in general. 

Blanc de Blancs have outperformed in this year’s selection, but there are two clear, and contrasting, shapes. Wines are either a skinny, upright stiletto style (Pierre Peters, Delamotte, Deutz, Agrapart) or a fuller, robust lug sole (De Sousa, Larmandier-Bernier, Pascal Doquet). Like all-Meunier cuvées, alternative grape Blanc de Blancs like Vouette et Sorbée’s pure pinot blanc Textures are still a rarity, though the grape’s immense tactility and potentially exotic-leaning fruit, at least in the hands of Bertrand Gautherot, certainly bring something different to the table.

Pink champagne has always been celebrated, typically costing more than white; and derided, as many serious champagne lovers I know eschew it, but the style has been accorded more respect in recent years. We’ve seen this in more characterful cuvées from both growers, for instance, Emotion from Vilmart and oldie but goodie Paul Bara, and houses, as well as emphasis on super cuvées like Billecart’s Elisabeth Salmon and Laurent-Perrier’s Alexandra. More intense colour and flavour among the houses (Taittinger, Laurent-Perrier, Pol Roger, Moët, Ruinart, Piper-Heidsieck, Delamotte) is banishing the idea of the whisper pale rosé to the annals of yesteryear, though some houses have kept the pale colour while boosting the flavour, for example Roederer’s glorious 2016. One thing that is definitely out, though, is clear bottles which are the wine equivalent of going SPF-free—irresponsible.   

Just as silhouettes evolve in the fashion world, even iconic champagne brands are not immune to shifting tastes, not to mention shifting climates. The toasty lushness of Krug has, in recent years, acquired more angles and even Bollinger is slightly less ample than in years past—probably exaggerated by the 2014 vintage’s skinniness. Meanwhile, Dom Ruinart and VC La Grande Dame have gone in the opposite direction, becoming plusher and curvier since the 2000s.  

More innovation is likely ahead thanks to a dramatic changing of the guard as new chefs de cave, many young, female or both, have joined or hit their stride at several prominent houses: Charles Heidsieck (Elise Losfelt, appointed 2023), Bollinger (Denis Bunner, appointed 2023 after the tragic early demise of Gilles Descotes), Laurent-Perrier (Maximilien Bernardeau, appointed 2023), Deutz (Caroline Latrive, appointed 2022); Henriot (Alice Tetienne, appointed 2020), Veuve Clicquot (Didier Mariotti, appointed 2020), Krug (Julie Cavil, appointed 2020), Dom Pérignon and Moët (Vincent Chaperon, appointed 2019), Perrier-Jouët (Séverine Frerson, appointed 2018), Billecart-Salmon (Florent Nys, appointed 2018), Taittinger (Alexandre Ponnavoy, appointed 2018), Pol Roger (Damien Cambres, appointed 2018) and Piper-Heidsieck/Rare (Emilien Boutillat, appointed 2018 and 2022 respectively).

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