The Best High-End Champagne for When You Really Want to Treat Yourself

Champagne Telmont Réserve de la Terre ($96)

High-toned aromas of yuzu and lime zest lead into sweet citrus and chalky mineral notes in this excellent non-vintage blend. The base year is 2020; the remainder comes from 2018 and 2019. It’s a steely, taut wine from a house more and more known for its impressive focus on sustainability and organic viticulture.

2012 Champagne Lanson Le Vintage ($131)

A stellar Champagne from a stellar vintage. A blend of 52% Pinot Noir and 48% Chardonnay from nine different grand and premier cru villages, this offers creamy depth braced with firm, lemon-zesty acid, beautiful precision, and notes of wildflower honey and just-baked brioche. This beats the pants off any number of higher-priced cuvées; run right out and get it.

2018 Champagne Philipponnat Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut ($140)

Blanc de noirs Champagnes, made from 100% red grapes (Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, or a combination of the two) can sometimes be a bit too blunt or unfocused, but not this 2018 cuvée from Philipponnat. That’s partially due to the low dosage of 4.25 grams per liter, and partially to Philipponnat’s longtime experience with Pinot-based Champagnes. The house’s legendary single-vineyard Clos de Goisses bottling is typically ⅔ Pinot, as is its very good non-vintage blend, the Royal Réserve Brut, guided by the hand of Charles Philipponnat.

Champagne Jeeper Grand Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut NV ($150)

Champagne Jeeper gets its name from the jeep that the U.S. army gave original owner Armand Goutorbe right after World War II, as a thank you for his service rescuing wounded soldiers during the war. The grapes for this cuvée were vinified in former white-Burgundy oak barrels. No oak character or flavor results from that; rather, the greater exposure to oxygen gives this crisp, citrus-forward Champagne additional depth and texture.

2008 Champagne Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Louis Salmon Blanc de Blancs ($205)

Billecart makes impressive Champagnes throughout its portfolio, from one of the best non-vintage rosés around to higher-end offerings like this rich, complex blanc de blancs. It shows the racy precision of the acclaimed 2008 vintage in Champagne and at the same time offers surprising lusciousness and breadth — definitely a do-not-miss bottle.

Champagne Krug Grand Cuvée 172ème Édition ($250)

As is always the case with Krug’s Grand Cuvée, the straightforward name belies the complexity of the blending that goes into this wine. In this edition, that involved 146 different wines from 11 different vintages; 2016 was the base, with the oldest component coming from 1998. And, as is also usually the case, it’s a thrillingly complex mélange of flavors — sweet citrus, a hint of green melon, toasted brioche, floral notes. It’s full-bodied in classic Krug style, and a joy to drink, with flavors that linger and linger.

2015 Champagne Bollinger Grand Année ($250)

The latest vintage of Champagne Bollinger’s tête du cuvée was released this Spring, and while the challenging 2015 Champagne vintage wasn’t greeted with unanimous excitement throughout the region, this particular wine is profoundly impressive. It’s toasty and rich, mixing orchard-fruit flavors (peach, nectarine) with red fruit and blood orange hints. A slight increase in Grand Année’s usual amount of Chardonnay, from 30% to 40%, adds some necessary linearity and precision in this warm year.

Champagne Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle Itération No. 26 ($300)

Bright and vivid, this multi-vintage tête de cuvée bottling from Laurent-Perrier blends wines from the 2012 vintage (excellent), 2008 (equally excellent), and 2007 (complicated, but the best wines were very good). It’s brisk and finely drawn, full of quince and white grapefruit flavor with hints of jasmine. Serve it with raw oysters on New Year’s Eve, or cellar it for New Year’s celebrations to come.

Champagne Moët & Chandon Imperiale Collection No. 1 Brut Nature ($320)

This is the first brut nature ever from Moët & Chandon, and it’s a fascinating wine. Brut natures can sometimes be so austere as to lose appeal, but this blend of seven different vintages, stretching from 2013 back to 2000, and released to celebrate the house’s 280th anniversary, is pure and electric, full of energy, with notes of white peach and vanilla and a saline, mineral finish. Serious kudos to chef du cave Benoît Gouez on this inaugural release.

Champagne Armand de Brignac Brut Rosé ($450)

Ignore the celebrity association (Jay Z owns half the brand, the other half held by luxury mega-conglomerate LVMH) and this salmon pink-hued rosé cuvée stands on its own as an impressive bottle of bubbles. It’s Pinot Noir-driven (55%) together with roughly equal parts Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay, full-bodied and rich, and leans towards darker fruit flavors, black currant and red cherry, with tangerine-like citrus notes.

It probably wouldn’t be as pricey as it is but for that celebrity association, yet it’s very good regardless, and the mirror-metallic pink bottle certainly will make a statement. And if you want to go all out, note that Brignac also just released its first vintage Blanc de Noirs, the 2015. It’s bottled only in magnums, is limited to 1,258 bottles, and will set you back a cool $3,400. Tell your best billionaire friend you’d like a New Year’s bottle.