The best champagnes to buy in France
Wine experts from Le Figaro list the best vintage, non-vintage and rosé champagnes money can buy
Choosing a bottle of bubbly for a celebration can be fraught at the best of times - but a €33 bottle of rosé and a €39 vintage champagne have finished second and 10th in three related 'Top 10 best-buy' lists, featuring bottles that sell well into the hundreds of euros.
Le Figaro's wine experts cross-referenced the prices and taste scores of some 500 champagnes to come up with three Top 10s - vintage, non-vintage, and rosé - in a bid to identify the bubblies that offer the best value for money.
Most of the vintage Champagnes in Le Figaro's top 10 vintage best-buys list cost more than €100 - the most expensive was a 2008 Louis Roederer Cristal, at €219 a bottle, which came in second behind a 2012 vintage from the same house. But a 2008 Pierre Gimonnet et Fils Oenophile Extra Brut Premier Cru was listed at 10 in the vintage range, and sells for a much more affordable €39.90.
The Pierre Moncuit Rosé Grand Cru - on sale online for €32.95 - was number two on Le Figaro's list of top rosé champagnes. First price went to a 2007 vintage Ruinart Dom Ruinart Rosé, which sells for €235.
The top choice in the rosé list was not the most expensive. In at number six is a 2009 Louis Roederer Cristal Rosé retailing at €426 a bottle.
A Pierre Moncuit Cuvée Hugues de Coulmet Blanc de Blancs, with an online retail price of about €26.95, topped the non-vintage 10 best buys list. As well as being the best-regarded, it was also the cheapest champagne in all categories.
In at number three on the non-vintage list, for example, was an Egly-Ouriet VP Extended Aging Extra Brut Grand Cru, which still sells for €84.
