6 exceptional vintage champagnes according to Gault&Millau

During the festive season, champagne is usually served as an aperitif. It can also be enjoyed at the table to accompany the refined dishes served at Christmas. Take a closer look at vintage champagnes, which will be your best bet for top-flight food and champagne pairings. Here's an explanation of this beautiful beverage and a selection of 6 favorites to make your loved ones' eyes shine.

How is champagne produced?

To go back to basics, champagne is an effervescent wine made from black and/or white grapes. A first fermentation takes place, giving rise to a "still" wine (without bubbles). This still wine is then bottled with a liqueur de tirage (a mixture of wine, sugars and yeast), which leads to a second alcoholic fermentation in a closed bottle. This is when effervescence begins - the famous "prise de mousse". After several months, or even years, of ageing, the champagne is disgorged. This stage involves expelling the deposit from the bottle. The vacuum left by this deposit is replaced by liqueur de dosage (or liqueur d'expédition), a mixture of sugar and wine. The bottles are then hermetically sealed with a cork held in place by a wire corkscrew.

Vintage or non-vintage: what's the difference?

Champagne can be non-vintage. This cuvée is commonly called Brut Sans Année (BSA) and is made from a blend of several years. A vintage champagne is made only with grapes from the year in question.

A minimum ageing period (or "élevage sur lattes") for the wine after foaming is imposed by the champagne appellation's specifications, and depending on whether the champagne is vintage or non-vintage, this time on lath will be shorter or longer. A vintage champagne is only marketed after a minimum ageing period of 36 months from bottling.

This long ageing period allows the wine to remain in contact with its lees (the yeast) for longer, giving it greater structure and richness. What's more, champagne is not vintage every year; only the best years are vintage. The rigorous selection of grapes during the harvest enables us to capture the full complexity of each great vintage.

Finally, if you'd like to offer a bottle of champagne for the holidays, don't forget that vintage champagnes have the particularity of having excellent ageing potential.

The Gault&Millau selection of 6 great vintage champagnes

• Vintage Brimoncourt, MMIX (96/100)
• Billecart-Salmon, Louis Salmon 2012 (95/100)
• Frèrejean Frères, Cuvée des Hussards 2013 (95/100)
• Mailly Grand Cru, Les Echansons 2014 (94/100)
• Lanson, Le Vintage 2013 (92/100)
• Alfred Gratien, Cuvée Paradis 2015 (96/100)

Discover all the cuvées tested, approved and rated by Gault&Millau in the Champagnes section of our website and in the latest Livre des champagnes.