Champagne Day 2026: what's in our users' cellars

Today is Global Champagne Day, so we looked at the champagne our users keep in their cellars. They clearly love vintage champagne, 2008 above any other year, and Pol Roger turns up in more cellars than any other house. Rosé hardly turns up at all. Here's what we found, with a few of my own favourites along the way.

All the figures are shares of the champagne bottles in Smart Wine Cellar users' cellars on 23 October 2026. Bottles that have already been opened don't count, and neither do the demo bottles new users get to try the app.

What is the oldest champagne in our users' cellars?#

A 1964 Louis Roederer Cristal. It's 62 years old and still unopened. The next oldest is a magnum of 1969 Veuve Clicquot Vintage.

Cristal has never been a favourite of mine, and it's the only bottle on this list I don't have myself. Still, 62 years is a long time to wait for a party.

Which champagne is in the most cellars?#

Pol Roger Vintage Brut. One in four cellars with champagne in them has at least one bottle of it. Dom Pérignon comes right behind (25% of cellars), then Taittinger Comtes de Champagne (21%) and Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve (19%).

These are shares of cellars rather than bottles, because a few big collectors hold a large part of all the champagne. Counting bottles would let one big collection decide the answer.

Which champagne houses are most popular with collectors?#

Houses are counted the same way: the share of cellars with champagne that hold at least one bottle from the house.

Dom Pérignon is really Moët & Chandon's prestige cuvée, but most people file it as its own house, so we do too.

Of these, Krug and Taittinger's Comtes are the ones I reach for. Two summers ago a friend opened a Krug Vintage 2000 at their house, and it was epic, so, so good.

Do collectors keep vintage or non-vintage champagne?#

Vintage, by a long way: two in three bottles carry a year on the label. That's the opposite of what the shops sell, since most champagne made is non-vintage, blended across years to keep a house style. Vintage champagne is the style people buy to age, so it makes sense that it piles up in cellars. (More on this in does vintage matter?.)

My own house champagne is a non-vintage, though: the Delamotte Blanc de Blancs. Delamotte is Salon's sister house in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, and the Blanc de Blancs is very, very good for the money.

It has competition, though. At a blind tasting of seven champagnes, my favourite turned out to be the cheapest bottle on the table: Famille Delouvin's Meunier Perpétuel Extra Brut. It's 100% Pinot Meunier from Vandières in the Vallée de la Marne, blended with a perpetual reserve the family started in 1992. Now the two of them are fighting it out for my house champagne.

Which champagne vintage do collectors keep the most?#

2008, with 23% of all the vintage-dated bottles. 2012 comes next with 18%, then 2015 (8%), 2014 (7%) and 2013 (6%).

2008 was a cool, slow growing year in Champagne, and the wines have the bright acidity that lets them age for a long time. I like vintage champagne best at around 12 to 16 years old, when it has picked up some toast and nuttiness but still has its freshness. That puts 2012 right in my window this year, and 2008 just past it, though the best 2008s have a long way to go.

What grapes are in our users' champagne?#

Blanc de Blancs is my favourite style, so it's nice to see it at more than a quarter of all bottles. Last summer I had a Jacques Selosse V.O., a grand cru Blanc de Blancs from Avize, Cramant and Oger, and it's one of the best champagnes I've ever had.

Pure Meunier is the rarity at 1%, which matches my experience. Champagne made only from Pinot Meunier has always been lovely when I've found it, but it's a bit harder to find.

How much champagne in our users' cellars is rosé?#

Just 5% of the bottles. Pink champagne is popular at parties, but it doesn't seem to make it into many cellars.

How do I serve champagne?#

I pour older champagne into Sophienwald Phoenix Burgundy glasses, where it has room to open up, and younger bottles into an ordinary white wine glass. Serve younger champagne at around 8 to 10°C (46 to 50°F) and older vintage champagne a little warmer, around 10 to 12°C (50 to 54°F).

If you track your own bottles in Smart Wine Cellar, the statistics page shows the same kind of split for your cellar: grapes, countries and vintages.

Whatever you open tonight, champagne always tastes better with good friends. Happy Champagne Day!