🍷 Non-vintage Champagne
Champagne blended from wines of different years so it tastes the same every year.
Non-vintage Champagne is Champagne made from a blend of wines of different years. It is made so that the taste stays the same every year. It is the main product of Champagne houses: non-vintage accounts for most bottles. The label shows no harvest year, and sometimes carries the letters NV.
In the cellars of a house, reserve wines from past harvests are kept. The winemaker tastes them and blends them with the current year's wine, aiming for the house's familiar style. This blending is called assemblage. The wine is then bottled, with sugar and yeast added, and ferments again inside the bottle. By the rules, non-vintage Champagne is aged at least 15 months, and many houses age it longer.
Non-vintage Champagne is the opposite of vintage Champagne, which comes from a single year. It belongs to Champagne and to French wine. It is a more affordable choice than the prestige cuvée and is usually served chilled as an aperitif or with starters. The style may be dry (brut) or with a little sweetness.
How it connects to Wine
🍷 Non-vintage Champagne ← similar ← 🏷️ Vintage → kind of → 🏷️ Wine classifications → kind of → 🍷 Wine
Links
- Part of
- 🍷 Champagne
- Where it is made
- 🗺️ French wine
- Similar and different
- 🍷 Vintage Champagne, 🍷 Champagne, 🍷 Assemblage, 🍷 Reserve wine, 🏷️ Vintage
Frequently asked questions
What is non-vintage Champagne?
Champagne from a blend of wines of different years, to keep a house style steady.
How long is it aged?
At least 15 months.
How is it different from vintage Champagne?
Vintage comes from a single harvest, non-vintage from several.
Similar
🍷 Prestige cuvée · 🍷 Grower Champagne · 🍷 Rosé Champagne · 🍷 Vintage Champagne · 🍷 Ratafia de Champagne · 🍷 Kir royal
⚠️ Wine contains alcohol: adults only, drink in moderation. Wine usually contains sulphites; egg white or milk proteins are sometimes used for fining — important for allergies and for vegans.