How is Champagne made?

Champagne is made from three grape varietals – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier – which are grown in limestone-rich soils on gentle, often south facing slopes. And they require a lot of tender love and care. 

Each grape is hand-picked in early Autumn to ensure the grapes have reached optimal ripeness, and then each varietal is gently pressed – separately. The reason for this is because different proportions will be used to create the final blend. The grapes also undergo first fermentation separately before coming together for the blending process. 

Once the flavors come together, there are another handful or steps that need to be completed in order to achieve those magical aromas and texture, but a key piece of the puzzle is aging!

This can take anywhere from a few months to many years! Each bottle of Krug Grande Cute, for example, is aged for a minimum of six years!

What is the world’s most expensive Champagne? 

To date, the most expensive champagne in the world sold for a whopping $2.5 million! The record-breaking bottle of Champagne Avenue Foch 2017 was sold in 2022 in a limited edition magnum bottle. 

In addition to the bottle, the highest bidder also took home the digital art and intellectual property rights to bottle graphics – which feature the now-famous Bored Ape Mutant and the other collectible cartoon figures. 

Before that, the record had belonged to the 2013 Taste of Diamonds, which sold for $1.8 million. The astonishing price tag could be attributed to the bottle itself, though, rather than the Champagne inside. 

For anyone who had the cash to blow on this mind-boggling bottle, you were able to have your name engraved on the handmade 18-carat solid gold edition. And there’s also an 18-carat white gold tag, featuring a single, flawless deep cut white diamond at its center. 

Both record-breaking bottles were introduced by British businessman Shammi Shinh, but some of the most expensive brands in the world come from Champagne houses that don’t exist anymore, though. 

For example, other notable bottles of Champagne that sold at auction for top dollar include an 1820 Juglar Cuvée and an 1841 Veuve Clicquot. Both bottles were salvaged from a shipwreck at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.