The most prestigious Champagne brands worth trying in 2026
The best Champagne brands are, of course, French! Krug, Dom Pérignon, Moët & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot are amongst the most popular French Champagne brands, celebrated for their premium craftsmanship, with Krug Brut 2011, rated 5/5, dominating our rankings thanks to its “chiseled roundness”.
Table of Contents
Top 10 Champagne brands ranked
Brut with Gift Box – House of Krug 2011
Champagne, France
Brut Rosé – Dom Pérignon 2009
Champagne, France
Cristal Champagne, – Louis Roederer 2016
Champagne, France
Louis Salmon Blanc de Blancs – Billecart-Salmon 2013
Champagne, France
Brut Rosé (1.5L Magnum) – Veuve Clicquot
Champagne, France
Brut Blanc de Blancs – Ruinart
Champagne, France
Ultra Brut – Laurent-Perrier
Champagne, France
Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Champagne NV – Le Mesnil
Champagne, France
Réserve Impériale Brut Champagne NV – Moët & Chandon
Champagne, France
Terroirs d’Écueil Brut Premier Cru – Champagne Lacourte Godbillon
Champagne, France
This month’s ranking includes our selection of 10 top Champagne brands out of the existing 50+ notable producers that deliver consistent quality year after year. Ranging from the delicious Champagne Lacourte Godbillon Terroirs d’Écueil Brut Premier Cru, rated at 4.6/5 and costing approximately ~$55, to our ace pick, Krug Brut 2011, a 5/5 blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier, which you can get for around $500. The list includes luxurious brut, extra dry and dry styles to cater to a wide range of tastes.
Champagne brands by price tiers
Champagne brands are divided into four tiers: entry level (under $50), mid range ($50-$100), premium ($100-$200) and limited edition prestige cuvees ($200+). Expensive champagne brands gained cult status due to their reputation for consistent quality, as evidenced by the widespread demand for their bottles among collectors.
| Category | Price Rang | Brands | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry level | Under $50 | Nicolas Feuillatte, G.H. Mumm, Lanson, Charles Heidsieck | Casual drinking, daily toasts, large parties |
| Mid range | $50-$100 | Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Piper-Heidsieck | Entertaining guests, fine dining, housewarming presents and celebrations |
| Premium | $100-$500 | Bollinger, Pol Roger, Taittinger Comtes | Milestone anniversaries, high end gifts, collectors |
| Prestige Cuvées | $500+ | Dom Pérignon, Krug, Perrier-Jouët, Louis Roederer | Investments, formal events, sophisticated dinners and luxury gifting |
- Some of the best entry level Champagnes deliver refined flavors at accessible prices. Many of these are often crafted by cooperatives and independent growers rather than major houses.
- Mid range Champagnes offer the widest selection balancing prices and quality across most known producers.
- Prestige cuvées are usually the flagship wines of the major houses, often vintage bottles produced in limited quantities.
1. Entry level: Nicolas Feuillatte Réserve Exclusive Rosé Brut – Champagne, France
2. Mid range: Moët & Chandon Nectar Impérial Demi-Sec Rosé – Champagne, France
3. Premium: Pol Roger Winston Churchill Champagne 2015
4. Prestige Cuvée: Louis Roederer Cristal Brut 2012 (1.5 L)
Types of Champagne brands: how are they classified?
All Champagne bottles feature a two letter code on the label, which identifies the type of producer. This label categorizes Champagne brands by the roles they play in sourcing grapes and producing wines, including:
- Négociant Manipulant (NM): these are large houses like Moët, Veuve Clicquot and Bollinger that purchase the majority of the grapes they make into Champagne.
- Récoltant Manipulant (RM): are independent growers who produce wine exclusively from their own grapes, such as Egly-Ouriet. They may buy up to 5% of their grapes.
- Coopérative de Manipulation (CM): cooperatives that pool grapes from member growers to create Champagne under a shared brand name.
- Récoltant Coopérateur (RC): a cooperative producer is a grower who brings their own grapes to a cooperative, but markets the resulting Champagne under a personal label.
- Société de Récoltants (SR): is run by a family, where multiple members share resources to produce their own champagne.
- Négociant Distributeur (ND): a merchant who doesn’t engage in any part of the production process, but buys finished Champagne that they market under their individual brand.
- Marque d’Acheteur (MA) refers to a brand name that is owned by a third party, like a restaurant or supermarket, instead of the actual Champagne producer.
Currently, there are over a hundred champagne houses and 19,000 smaller vine growing producers. Together, they form the professional trade organization “Union des Maisons de Champagne” (UMC). The UMC was founded in 1882 to protect the “Champagne” name, manage the appellation and control quality. Today, it acts as a union for the major brands and houses, known as the “Grandes Marques,” and oversees the ~32,000 hectares of vineyards in the region.
Champagne brands can also be classified based on sweetness levels, but first, let’s have a look at the Champagne sweetness chart.
| Sweetness Level | Dosage (amount of residual sugar measured in grams per liter) |
|---|---|
| Brut Nature | 0-3 g/L |
| Extra Brut | 0-6 g/L |
| Brut | 0-12 g/L |
| Extra Sec | 12-17 g/L |
| Sec | 17-32 g/L |
| Demi-Sec | 32-50 g/L |
| Doux | More than 50 g/L |
Some brands are known for their sweet Champagne bottlings, while others straddle the line between medium and low sweetness levels. Let’s have a look at some famous Champagne brands and their sweetness tiers.
| Sweetness Level | Brands | Recommended for |
|---|---|---|
| High | Veuve Clicquot, Piper-Heidsieck, Louis Roederer | Wedding cake toasts, bridal showers, poolside gatherings |
| Medium | Moët & Chandon, Laurent-Perrier, Armand de Brignac | Afternoon tea or brunch, dessert buffets, holiday gatherings |
| Low | Low | Aperitif, sophisticated dinners, formal events and toasting |
How we rate and score Champagne brands
Our editorial team rates wines based on a 5 point scale, assigning scores after assessing the appearance, aroma/bouquet, flavor/palate and overall impression of the wine. Before we recommend a wine bottle, our expert tasting panel tests it without bias. The scores are totaled and aggregated over 50 points, which we convert to the simple 5 point scale that is presented to you.
Our rating scale can be interpreted as:
- 5 = Exceptional
- 4 = Excellent
- 3 = Very Good
- 2 = Good
- 1 = Fair
What do we look for in a Champagne brand?
- Consistency of the range (up to 15 pts): quality across the full line of products, from non vintage to prestige cuvée.
- House style & identity (up to 15 pts): an authentic house style and signature in each bottle, be it Krug’s complexity or Ruinart’s elegance.
- Aging & winemaking standards (up to 10 pts): practices like extended cellar aging, the use of wine reserves, as well as disgorgement for improved nuance.
- Overall reputation (up to 10 pts): recognition by critics, impressive performance at auctions and consistency across vintages.
The overall rating assigned to each Champagne brand is a reflection of the average scores across all the bottles tasted from the house. An inconsistent producer that peaks with only one bottle will be rated less than one with consistently high scoring Champagnes in their product range.
A note from our team: preferences are determined by personal taste and we understand this. The scores we assign reflect the palate and opinions of our tasting team. Therefore, we recommend that you read our tasting notes to find the Champagne brands you will enjoy the most.
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FAQs on Champagne brands
What are some good Champagne brands?
Good Champagne brands that offer great value include Nicolas Feuillatte, G.H. Mumm, Lanson and Charles Heidsieck. Their bottles often cost below $50, providing high quality and authentic options for casual sippers and those looking for accessible options. Our top pick from these nice Champagne brands is G.H. Mumm Grand Cordon Rosé (4.6/5, ~$45), a dry and intense rosé with subtle spice and red fruit notes.
How are Champagne brands classified?
Champagne brands are classified based on the sweetness levels (dosage), price tier and producer type. By sweetness level, there are sweet and dry champagne brands. According to price tiers, champagne producers range from entry level (under $50) to prestige cuvees ($200+). Also, Champagne producers may be Négociant Manipulant, Récoltant Manipulant, or any of 5 other classes, depending on their role in grape growing.
What are some of the most popular Champagne brands?
Popular Champagne brands include Krug, Dom Pérignon, Louis Roederer, Billecart-Salmon, Moët & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot. Celebrated for their consistent quality and premium craftsmanship, these Champagne brands offer top of the range Champagnes across all price points. The iconic Krug Brut 2011 (5/5, ~$500) is our number one pick.
What is the most famous French Champagne brand?
Moët & Chandon is widely considered the most famous French Champagne brand in the world, with a history of over 270 years. This fancy Champagne brand is a part of the LVMH luxury group, marketed as a luxurious sparkling wine for celebration. Boasting the largest vineyards in Champagne, Moët & Chandon produces ~30 million bottles annually and it is known for consistent quality.
What are luxury Champagne brands?
Luxury Champagne brands are expensive producers that stand out from the rest due to their exceptional quality, long term aging and prestige. These celebrated brands typically produce limited, vintage only (millésimé) or single plot cuvées that represent the pinnacle of their status as the world’s best. Names like Krug, Dom Pérignon and Salon are examples of these high end producers.
Are there American Champagne brands?
Yes, some American Champagne brands exist, primarily as labels from producers that were established before 2006. These include Korbel, Cook’s and André. It is important to note that true Champagne only comes from France and these US brands are actually Californian sparkling wines that are legally permitted to use the term on their labels.
How many brands of Champagne are there?
There are nearly 300 active Champagne houses that produce Champagne today. They are supported by ~19,000 smaller grape growers. Out of the 300 active Champagne houses, about 100 major “Grande Marque” houses account for over two thirds of total production. These top brands include Krug, Dom Pérignon, Louis Roederer, Moët & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot.