2025 Champagne: New Releases

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | APRIL 8, 2025

My annual March trip to Champagne is always one the highlights of the year. Many producers are preparing to launch their new releases. At the larger houses, this is the time when winemakers are finalizing their blends and deciding whether or not they are going to bottle their tête de cuvées. With spring around the corner, thoughts start to turn to the young vintage and what it might bring.

This year, things were different. Very different. Deep concern over the global economy and the United States’ tariff policies, now instated, cast a pall on every tasting. With the experience of 2020, some producers had already sent a significant portion of their projected 2025 sales volume to the U.S. Even so, the mood was distinctly subdued. That’s a shame, because Champagne continues to be one of the most dynamic regions in the world.

Jérôme Prévost contemplating the state of the world in between wines.

The Grandes Marques – The Changing of the Guard

One of the biggest trends in recent years in Champagne has been the reawakening of the grandes marques following a period in which grower Champagnes gained massively in prominence with professional buyers and consumers alike. The sheer number of growers multiplied by the many wines they each make, along with the flat number of grand marques, led to a situation where grower Champagnes vastly dominate over large houses in terms of the sheer amount of real estate they command on restaurant lists, still the most coveted of placements. This has not gone unnoticed.

One of the first grandes marques to reinvent itself was Roederer, as I have written in many previous articles. Roederer’s push into organic and then biodynamic farming was not only innovative, but it also inspired other producers to do the same. Under the leadership of longtime Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, Roederer has become the largest farmer of biodynamic vineyards in Champagne. The flagship Cristal and Cristal Rosé are among the most contemporary Champagnes, while a bevy of new wines have increased the offerings considerably.

Krug Chef de Caves Julie Cavil, flanked by tasting committee members Isabelle Bui and Jérôme Jacoillot at Krug’s new winemaking facility in Ambonnay.

The younger generation is following suit. At Dom Pérignon, Chef de Caves Vincent Chaperon once again presented a range of vins clairs to start the tasting, each accompanied by detailed maps of the corresponding plots. Last year, I toured several vineyard sites with the entire viticultural team. Chef de Caves Richard Geoffroy, Chaperon’s predecessor and mentor, rarely showed vins clairs. I don’t remember him ever mentioning a vineyard in all the years I tasted with him. Not once. That is not a criticism, it’s simply a reflection of how different generations of Chefs de Caves think about their roles. Chaperon has also decided to start bottling Dom Perignon in years where quality is high but volumes are low because he wants to document each vintage. That is another departure from the past. The 2017 Dom Pérignon, the last vintage vinified by Geoffroy, will be a tiny release that is projected to last in the market for just a few months. It is the smallest production ever for Dom Pérignon. Chaperon has bottled Dom Pérignon in every vintage from 2018 to 2024, except for 2023. More importantly, there is a new feeling of energy at Dom Pérignon today that is palpable.