The Best Prestige Champagnes in 2024

By Dirk Smits

Top Tête de Cuvée Champagnes, the Best of the Best

Tête de cuvée or prestige Champagnes represent a Champagne house’s best-of-the-best. Prestige Cuvées are made from the finest grapes from the best locations of vineyards in Champagne, mostly with Premier Cru or Grand Cru status.

They typically are aged from five to eight years before being released and offer more complex, elegant and intense aromas and flavors than their siblings. These wines come with a higher price tag since only the best grapes are used and the time spent in the cellar is longer (think cash-flow).

The wines are listed in alphabetical order.

SUGGESTED READING

For more details on top-notch bubbly, take a look at our Guide to Prestige Champagne
Champagne Bottle Sizes
Champagne Glossary Terms

1. Champagne Deutz, Cuvée William 2009

Champagne Deutz Cuvée William 2009

Cuvée William has been the flagship expression of Champagne Deutz for over half a century, since it was first released commercially in 1961.

Origin: Aÿ, France
Varietals: 62% Pinot Noir, 34% Chardonnay, 4% Pinot Meunier
Price: $134.00
ABV: 12%

The grapes were pressed and vinified at Deutz’s state-of-the-art winery in Aÿ, with each individual parcel being vinified in its own separate tank. It remained on the lees for 10 years and was given a dosage of 8.8 grams of sugar per liter.

The wine shows a beautiful deep straw color with extra fine bubbles. The bouquet delivers the distinct Deutz nose, a combination of chalky minerality and smoky notes with apple, pear, grapefruit and Asian spice. The mouth feel is broad and complex due to the 10 years aging on the lees with flavors of baked apple, citrus, cherry, lemon zest and orange marmalade. The wine has a lovely texture and creaminess evolving in a long and elegant finish.

> For more information, visit the Champagne Deutz official website.

2. Champagne Dom Pérignon 2010

Dom Pierre Pérignon, a French Benedictine monk, set out his vision to “create the best wine in the world” when he became Cellar Master at the sacred Abbey of Hautvillers in 1668.

Origin: Épernay, France
Varietal: 46% Pinot Noir, 54% Chardonnay
Price: $186.00
ABV: 12.5%

Dom Pérignon dedicated more than 40 years to this mission, employing a visionary spirit and daring approach to the wine making process. Over that time, he became known as the “father of Champagne” for laying down the fundamental rules for the traditional Champagne production method (La Méthode Champenoise or Traditionnelle). A favored wine of the Sun King Louis XIV, Dom Pérignon himself compared his wine to “drinking stars.”

Time is part of the Dom Pérignon equation. It takes no fewer than eight years of ageing to reach the aesthetic ideal of Dom Pérignon. In the darkness of the cellars, inside the bottles, each vintage experiences a slow transformation in contact with yeasts to obtain the harmony that will characterize Dom Pérignon forever.

The wine has a soft golden color with fine, persistent beads. It features tart apple, melon, stone fruit and grilled nuts. On the palate it unfolds flavors of savory spices, exotic fruit, candied ginger and cooked apple. It finishes with refreshing minerality and salinity. The dosage is 5.3 grams per liter.

> For more information, visit the Dom Pérignon official website.

Read about Dom Pérignon history and watch our exclusive video interview with former Chef de Cave Richard Geoffroy.

3. Champagne Krug, Grande Cuvée – 168th Edition

Krug Grande Cuvée is re-created every year, beyond the notion of vintage. The 168th edition of this wine is a blend of 198 individual wines from 11 different vintages, the oldest being 1996 and the youngest 2012. Réserve wines make up 42% of the blend.

Origin: Reims, France
Varietal: 52% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay, 13% Pinot Meunier
Price: $188 for 750 ml.
ABV: 12.5%

The wine has a golden color and a fine, dynamic effervescence. Aromas of white blossom, candied fruit, spices and citrus dazzle the nose. The frame of réserve wines supports flavors of red fruit, quince, honey and roasted hazelnuts. The wine takes on spicy notes and carries it towards a well-balanced and long, complex finish. Drink now and over the next 15 years.

> For more information, visit the Champagne Krug official website.

4. Champagne Laurent-Perrier, Grand Siècle n ̊26

Origin: ֤Tours-sur-Marne, France
Varietal: 58% Chardonnay, 42% Pinot Noir
Price: $250 for 750 ml.
ABV: 12%

The idea of Grand Siècle is based on a single observation: nature will probably never provide the perfect enological year but thanks to the art of assemblage, Laurent-Perrier can in fact create it with each new iteration. This n ̊ 26 is a blend of Chardonnay supplemented with Pinot Noir and selected among 8 of the 17 existing Grand Crus in Champagne. The wines come from three different vintages: 2012, 2008 and 2007. It’s the 26th time Laurent-Perrier has produced Grand Siècle. The wine spent a total of 10 years on the lees and has 7 grams of dosage.

The wine has a pale straw color showing delicate and persistent effervescence. The intense and complex nose reveals aromas of white peach, lemon zest, caramelized apples and wet minerals. The wine is full-bodied with a palate boasting flavors of apricots, lemon zest and oyster shell. All these flavors are wrapped in a silky creaminess and lingering towards a vibrant, elegant finish.

For more information, visit the Champagne Laurent-Perrier official website.

Check out GAYOT’s profile of Champagne Laurent-Perrier House.

5. Champagne Louis Roederer, Cristal 2015

Created in 1876 at the special request of Tsar Alexander II, this exceptional champagne is sourced from 45 plots located in seven Grands Crus vineyards spanning the Montagne de Reims, the Marne Valley and the Côte des Blancs.

Origin: Reims, France
Varietal: 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay
Price: $375 for 750 ml.
ABV: 12%

Forged by a chalky soil unlike any other and honed by time, Cristal is Louis Roederer’s flagship champagne. It is only produced in years when the grapes have reached perfect maturity. The wine was fermented in oak for 25%, it did not undergo malolactic fermentation and the dosage is 7 grams of sugar per liter.

This wine shows a pale golden color with vibrant, refined effervescence. The complex nose delivers lemon zest, white peach and almond aromas. The concentrated, yet elegant palate reveals more citrus, spices, roasted apples and a hint of mineral. As usual, a very fine Champagne with a lingering, exquisite finish.

> For more information, visit the Champagne Louis Roederer official website.

> Watch Sophie Gayot sabering a bottle of 2008 Cristal blindfolded.

6. Champagne Piper-Heidsieck, Rare 2013

The 2013 release is a cellar selection of eight different Grand Cru vineyards with a dosage of 9 grams per liter.

Origin: Reims, France
Varietal: 70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay
Price: $275 for 750 ml.
ABV: 12%

Champagne Piper-Heidsieck Cuvée Rare, often referred to simply as “Rare,” is a prestigious and sought-after cuvée produced only in the best vintages.

This 2013 shows vivid and fine effervescence. The nose reveals hints of lemon, white grapefruit, oyster shell and flower blossom. The wine is impeccably balanced and silky on the palate, with tangy acidity, crisp apple flavor, lemon curd, peach and an elegant creaminess, evolving in a lengthy, elegant finish.

> For more information, visit the Champagne Piper-Heidsieck official website.

Check out GAYOT’s profile of Champagne Piper-Heidsieck House.

7. Champagne Pol Roger, Sir Winston Churchill 2009

While the exact blend is a family secret, it is believed that the wine is blended to meet the late Sir Winston Churchill’s approval and is most likely a majority of Pinot Noir with some Chardonnay. Grapes are sourced from old vines located exclusively in Grand Cru vineyards using the same plots that were used to produce Churchill’s favorite vintages, such as the excellent 1928.

Origin: Épernay, France
Varietal: It’s a family secret!
Price: $175 for 750 ml.
ABV: 12%

The wine displays a mid-golden yellow color and lively stream of delicate bubbles. The nose is powerful with a rich dose of minerality, toast, fresh quince, peach, apricot, some preserved lemon and hints of spice. The palate is very balanced, showing weight, power, a velvety texture and a long persistent citric acidity evolving in a long, elegant aftertaste. Drink now or hold for at least 10 years to get full maturity.

> For more information, visit the Champagne Pol-Roger official website.

8. Champagne Veuve Clicquot, La Grande Dame 2012

Starting with the 2008 vintage, Clicquot makes this wine almost entirely with Pinot Noir. A dosage of 6 grams of sugar per liter was added.

Origin: Reims, France
Varietal: 90% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay
Price: $195 for 750 ml.
ABV: 12.5%

The wine has a straw yellow color and fine bubbles feed a persistent mousse. The nose shows delicate aromas of jasmine, white blossom, honey and roasted almonds. There is density and freshness on the vinous palate, and a long finish. 

> For more information, visit the Champagne Veuve Clicquot official website.