Vintage Champagne and Sparkling Wines
Vintage Champagne is made in particularly good years with optimum weather and the best grape selection.
Some houses, like
Dom Perignon, only make vintage Champagne,
so they do not produce a wine every year and have no
non-vintage bottlings.
What makes vintage Champagne better? Well, status for one – many vintage Champagnes are made in small quantities,
so low supply and high demand beefs up the price and the prestige of a vintage bottle. And of course, beyond the
status symbol of vintage Champagne is the taste and care given to the grapes. For vintage Champagne, the grapes
are carefully selected, the blends painstakingly created and the ageing process lovingly prolonged. Vintage Champagnes
are often more complex and flavorful than their non-vintage counterparts, and can often age for up to a decade or two,
although most houses release their bottles at an optimum time for drinking. Vintage Champagne differs from non-vintage
because the winemaker's focus is on that specific year rather than a blend to match the house style.
Sparkling wines from regions that follow the traditional method are apt to create vintage wines as well. These regions
typically enjoy more freedom in their vintage choices. While they only make wines from years they deem worthy of
vintage, they do not have a regulated body to declare a vintage year, so it's to the winemaker's discretion in
making a vintage or non-vintage.
