Every bottle of Champagne falls into one of two categories: vintage or non-vintage (NV). The distinction sounds simple, but it reflects a genuinely different philosophy of winemaking, and it's worth understanding before you decide where to spend your money.
What Non-Vintage Actually Means
Non-vintage Champagne is a blend of multiple years, built to deliver a consistent house style regardless of how any single harvest performed. This is the art of the assemblage, blending base wines from the current harvest with reserve wines held back from previous years, so that a poor year can be balanced out and a house's signature style stays recognisable bottle to bottle, year after year. Delamotte's non-vintage Brut is a good example of this philosophy done well, consistency as a genuine craft, not a compromise.
What Vintage Actually Means
A vintage Champagne is made entirely from grapes harvested in a single, declared exceptional year, no blending in reserve wine from other vintages. Houses only declare a vintage in years they consider strong enough to stand alone, which means a producer's vintage releases are, by definition, a curated "best of" across the decades. Jacquesson takes this philosophy even further, treating its numbered cuvées almost like vintage wines even when technically blended, we cover this in our Jacquesson range.
Why Vintage Costs More
Three things drive the premium: scarcity (a house might only declare a vintage two or three times a decade), extended ageing requirements before release (vintage Champagne must legally rest longer on its lees than NV, often for years beyond the minimum), and the simple fact that the fruit itself came from an exceptional, favourable growing season.
Is Vintage Worth It?
For a milestone occasion, or when you want to taste a specific, celebrated year at its best, vintage Champagne is genuinely worth the premium, it offers more complexity, more ageing potential, and a clearer sense of a single growing season's character. For everyday drinking or larger gatherings, well-made NV from a serious producer delivers excellent quality at a gentler price, and arguably better reflects the skill of the house's blending team.
How to Choose
If you're building a collection or marking a specific occasion, look for vintage releases from producers like Agrapart or Egly-Ouriet, both make vintage cuvées with real ageing potential. For regular drinking, start with NV bottlings from any of our grower producers; quality across the range is consistently high.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often is vintage Champagne declared?
It varies by house, but most declare a vintage only two to four times per decade, in years they judge exceptional enough to stand without blending.
Does vintage Champagne age longer than non-vintage?
Generally yes, vintage Champagne is required to rest longer on its lees before release, and top vintage cuvées can continue developing in bottle for a decade or more afterward.
Is non-vintage Champagne lower quality?
Not at all, from a serious grower producer, NV Champagne represents real craft: the skill of blending across multiple years to deliver a consistent, high-quality style every time.
Explore both styles across our grower producers in the full Champagne collection at The Vintage Wine Club.
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