What is a Tête de Cuvée Champagne?

“Tête de cuvée” is the top wine a Champagne house or grower releases. Usually translated from French as "head of the blend" or "top batch," these... Read More

What is a Tête de Cuvée Champagne?

“Tête de cuvée” is the top wine a Champagne house or grower releases. Usually translated from French as "head of the blend" or "top batch," these are the best, fanciest, most ageworthy bottles a producer makes and are also sometimes called “prestige cuvées” or “luxury Champagnes.” 

The most famous examples are Dom Pérignon (Moët & Chandon's tête de cuvée, widely considered the first prestige Champagne ever released) and Louis Roederer’s Cristal. But most Champagne houses and many growers make one now.

What makes prestige Champagnes different?

Only the best fruit: Producers reserve their finest sites and most perfect fruit for these wines. That means ripe grapes with perfectly balanced acidity and the concentration to convey those sites’ terroir.

Vintage-dated (usually): Most Champagne is a blend of multiple years, but tête de cuvées are almost always from a single, very top vintage. Even multi-vintage prestige bottlings like Krug Grande Cuvée are built by blending only truly outstanding wines from great years.

Built to age: Non-vintage Champagne is made to drink now (though some will improve with a few years in the bottle). Prestige cuvées on the other hand are made to cellar. While they are released ready to enjoy, they reward patience with extraordinary complexity, texture, and terroir expression that develop over decades in a cold, dark cellar.

Uncompromising winemaking: Every decision in the winemaking is devoted to making the best possible wine – no matter the expense. Only the purest juice from the first press. Extended aging on the lees, often many years beyond the legal minimum, for deeper texture and richness. Obsessive attention at every step.

Gift-worthy presentation: These bottles are designed for milestone moments—graduations, promotions, closing deals, making partner. The packaging reflects that.

Most expensive wine: Given everything that goes into these wines, the tête de cuvée is typically a producer’s most expensive wine.