Champagne outlook: collectible cuvées and entry-level delights set to outperform
Despite falling global shipments, certain Champagne segments are thriving, writes Kathleen Willcox. Collectors’ cuvées, by-the-glass programmes and accessible luxury bottles are emerging as bright spots in a challenging market.
Recent conversations with maison heads and experts have highlighted strong growth in sales of Champagne in by-the-glass programs, and more broadly for collectable cuvées and entry-level bottles.
“We have been very happy to see our sales grow,” says Maud Rabin, director at Rare Champagne. “I attribute the success to the quality of the Champagne, and its incredible history encompassing Marie Antoinette and Versailles, but also to our brand ambassadors, who have become key to our success.”
While the overall US wine and spirits environment is challenging, notes Guillaume Grillon, senior director of national distribution for Folio Fine Wine Partners, “Champagne is a clear bright spot for us. Across our portfolio, our Champagne brands are significantly outperforming broader category trends.”
Positive news, and it’s tempting to cling to it, while averting our eyes from the bigger picture. Which is, of course, far less pretty: the number of Champagne bottles shipped worldwide dropped -2%, to 266 million last year, from 271.4 million in 2024, according to numbers released by the Comité Champagne. Those numbers include domestic consumption.
Export numbers are less grim: the drop in exports was -0.78%, to 152 million bottles from 153.2 million in 2024.
When speaking to producers and importers in the U.S. there are signs of a recovery and even growth, particularly in the categories mentioned above, but there are still several challenges to overcome, namely: tariffs, a turn from Champagne to sparkling wines from other regions, a general drop in alcohol consumption, and an unstable economic environment that threatens mid-level luxury consumption across the board.
In numbers released by the French Federation of Wine and Spirits Exporters on February 10, the drop in value of wine, Champagne and cognac was far more significant (-8%) than the drop in volume. To many, that’s much more alarming.
“There are more bottles of nonvintage Champagne with lower-level pricing that are selling, while special cuvées, always a sliver of the market, are suffering,” says François Van Aal, president of Champagne Lanson. “We are also dealing with historically high stocks of Champagne. Our stocks have never been this high. We have about an extra year’s worth of Champagne, and many houses, when facing high stocks, drop the prices of their entry-level bottles, which pushes value down.”
Read on for insight into what seems to be resonating in the market, and for strategies to capitalise on current areas of growth, while cultivating new ones.
Collectors chase prestige cuvées
Data from the European online wine auctioneer and retailer iDealwine shows that U.S. collectors are particularly interested in singular cuvées, particularly dry Blanc de Blancs from Jacques Selosse. iDealwine’s total auction sales value was worth $50.33 million in 2025, with a 9% increase in sales year-over-year to the U.S. despite tariffs and a volatile market, says Orlaith Moore Smith, international marketing manager at iDealWine.
Champagne auction prices spiked about 16% last year across all markets, with the greatest interest in the U.S. focused on very specific SKUs, Smith notes.
Of their highest-price Champagne bottles won at online auctions by U.S. customers through 2025 and as of mid-February in 2026, eight were from Jacques Selosse, all were vintage releases, and the vast majority were Extra Brut and Grand or 1er Cru. (The other two top-sellers belonged to Krug and Salon).
“There is momentum in on- and off-premise sales for our three Maisons,” says Grillon, noting that much of the growth at the highest end is through word of mouth. “In the prestige category, Rare Champagne is performing strongly without a dedicated marketing campaign, driven largely by word of mouth and strong interest from collectors and clients who value its precision and rarity.”
The market for Champagne, says Mathieu Roland-Billecart, CEO at Champagne Billecart-Salmon, is more polarised than ever.
“If you look at the market broadly, Champagne is way down,” Roland-Billecart acknowledges. “But we are up 5% currently, and we were up last year, too. My sense is that, producer to producer, the story is very different. There is always a flight to quality in difficult times. And because we haven’t increased our prices stupidly, and because we have become more well known for our longer ageing practices, there is a perception that we offer higher quality for the price than others.”
French law requires that Champagne be aged for a minimum of 15 months for nonvintage cuvées, but Billecart-Salmon ages on the lees for three years for base cuvées and more than 10 years for prestige cuvées.
Gracie Barwick, wine director and lead sommelier at Lazy Betty, notes that guests are currently flocking to recognisable luxury brands, like Krug and Dom Pérignon.
“Vintage Champagne is always a popular sale,” Barwick says, but adds a note of caution as higher prices for imported wines begin to register. “With tariffs being higher, I predict guests choosing domestic producers that make sparkling wine in a Champagne method.”
Van Aal concurs, adding that while Champagne Lanson’s own on-premise sales have been strong this year, thanks to importers and restaurants building up caches of key cuvées before the tariffs hit, prices will have to increase.
“The U.S. market is key for us, and we are still in the process of building our brand there,” Van Aal says. “You have the tariffs and the cost of grapes, which have increased about 30% over the past five to six years. We are all going to have to be very creative if we don’t want consumers to start to say ‘no.’”
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Accessible luxury drives entry-level growth
Champagne houses with a line of reliably well-made wines, and reputations for craft and quality that put them above the level of classic nonvintage entry-level offerings from highly marketed brands appear to be poised to sell well now, and into the near future.
“The level of consumer knowledge is increasing across the board, which is great for us, because of our long ageing practices, and the high levels of Grand Cru in our Champagnes,” says Roland-Billecart. “Our Blanc de Blancs, which is aged for a minimum of five years, is doing very well. It’s 100% Grand Cru from Côte des Blancs, and very reasonably priced considering.”
Established houses that are quality-driven but aren’t ubiquitous are seeing sales rise, Grillon says. But he says it’s all relative, and that from what he’s seen, the vast majority of the market still doesn’t explicitly select a bottle based on a niche technical point.
“Charles Heidsieck, for example, has delivered double-digit growth over the past year, reflecting sustained demand for its reputation and house style,” Grillon says. “From a broader consumer perspective, approachability and house style are still more influential than technical points like dosage or extended ageing. Piper-Heidsieck illustrates this well, resonating as an accessible, high-quality Champagne and fitting squarely into the ‘affordable luxury’ space consumers continue to seek.”
At Lazy Betty, Barwick says that the most frequent requests she gets are for “dry or extra brut Champagnes that are bright on the palate.”
By-the-glass programmes and storytelling boost sales
Ultimately, what sells, Barwick says, is trust.
“Even when guests specifically request dry Champagnes, if I pour them something with substantial dosage for them to just try, they’re often pleasantly surprised,” she says. “At the end of the day, we have to build trust with guests to find the right Champagne for them.”
The hand-sell model, which requires significant time and financial investment on the part of Champagne houses, has become for some, more effective than marketing.
“We recently hired a new brand ambassador in Miami,” Rabin says. “Already, we have 12 new by-the-glass placements for Rare in Miami, which is incredible considering its price point. Because they are on the ground and work with restaurants and distributors, that personal touch makes an enormous difference.”
For restaurants, by-the-glass Champagne programs have always been a gamble. Sell that bottle quickly, and it’s a win. But if it stalls, that’s a lot of Champagne that will potentially go flat.
Coravin Sparkling has helped address that challenge.
“We use it all the time for our by-the-glass and a Champagne flight program,” Barwick says. “It preserves it so much longer than a normal capsule,” allowing them to offer more options by the glass, especially with lesser-known brands that may not sell themselves on reputation alone.
For Champagne Deutz, which was founded in 1838 but only recently began focusing on the US market, two cuvées are performing particularly well: Deutz Brut Classic and Deutz Brut Rosé.
“The U.S. remains the largest rosé market in the world, and our rosé performs well there,” says global communications manager Mathilde Briard. She attributes the strength of the sales so far to “its high quality, made exclusively from Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards.”
Investing in storytelling has become foundational to Lanson’s vision for growth, Van Aal explains.
“By-the-glass programs do work that marketing often cannot,” Van Aal says. “We have found that in cities where we have strong by-the-glass programs, where Champagne begins to be seen as linked to gastronomy, our sales are stronger.”
A resilient region faces an uncertain market
There are strategies to boost the momentum of certain cuvées and price points, but no one in Champagne appears to be ready to celebrate amid so much uncertainty and tumult.
“This is a crisis, but we will get through it,” Van Aal says. “The Champagne region has three centuries of history, including wars and pandemics. We are very resistant.”
But he underlines the need for humility and creativity in a market with growing competition.
“We have to recognise that there are sparkling wine regions offering wines at a fourth of our price,” Van Aal says. “We cannot be arrogant about it. There are cocktails, beer, and RTD drinks to choose from. But they don’t have the same savoir-faire, quality and history. And that is why people have always prized and will continue to prize Champagne.”
Champagne used to sell itself. Today, it requires more patience, investment and creativity to really pop, but the opportunity is still there.
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