Champagne Grande Marques

Champagne Classification

The classification system in Champagne is based on Vineyards. The land is graded according to its suitability for black and white grapes, ranging from 100 per cent for the 17 finest Grand Cru villages, through 99-90 percent for the 38 Premier Cru villages, and on to 80 per cent for the least favoured. Champagne houses boast how high their average percentage of grapes is. Some Champagne will have words like Premier Cru or 100 per cent and a village name like Avize on the label, meaning the wine comes from that single top village.

Champagne Organization

The Champagne industry is divided between the houses who might own some vineyards of their own but who are rarely self sufficient in grapes, and the growers, some of whom may make and bottle their own wine but many of whom sell their grapes to the houses or co-operatives. These growers' Champagnes dominate the French market. Suprisingly, however, they are often less good than wines produced by the houses, which can draw a greater variety of base wines for blending.

The co-operatives, many of which are enormous, are also very important. Many of the own label and cheaper brands of Champagne on the market come from one of the big co-operatives.

The houses use to be organized into a syndicat des Grandes Marques, which had 28 Members, not all of them of equal quality. That has now been replaced by a Club des Grandes Marques with 24 menbers.

The Grande Marques

Ayala

Billecart-Salmon

Bollinger - More Info

Canard-Duchene

Deutz & Geldermann

Dom Perignon - More Info

Heidsieck & Co. Monopole

Henriot

Krug

Lanson Pere et Fils - More Info

Laurent-Perrier - More Info

Moet et Chandon - More Info

G H Mumm - More Info

Perrier-Jouet

Joseph Perrier

Piper Heidsieck - More Info

Pol Roger

Pommery & Greno

Ch. & A Prieur

Louis Roederer - More Info

Ruinart

A Salon

Taittinger - More Info

Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin - More Info