Champagne Houses to Watch in 2026
The landscape of Champagne is shifting. After several years of record sales, the region is navigating a more uncertain market, with volumes contracting and pressure on prices at multiple ends of the range. Yet paradoxically, this is one of the most exciting moments to pay close attention to what the great houses are doing, because the wines themselves have rarely been better. From a quality standpoint, Laurent-Perrier and a handful of other maisons are producing at a level that is drawing genuine critical consensus, and 2026 looks set to be a year in which several houses will consolidate or extend reputations built over decades.
Laurent-Perrier: the assemblage philosophy fully vindicated
Few developments in recent Champagne history have been as striking as the critical trajectory of Laurent-Perrier’s Grand Siècle. The itération n°26, a blend of 2012, 2008, and 2007 across eight grand crus, collected a 100/100 from James Suckling and the Wine of the Year title among nearly 39,000 wines tasted, a 100/100 from Bettane & Desseauve for their 2026 guide, and 19.5/20 from Jancis Robinson MW. That kind of convergence across three independent and methodologically distinct critics is rare enough to warrant serious attention.
What makes this particularly interesting is the philosophical underpinning. Laurent-Perrier has long argued that assemblage across exceptional vintages, rather than the prestige of a single great year, is the most reliable path to producing a wine of lasting complexity. The Grand Siècle programme, begun by Bernard de Nonancourt in 1959 and now stewarded by cellar master Olivier Vigneron, is the clearest expression of that conviction. With itération n°26, the argument seems definitively won. The house is worth following closely in 2026 not just for the prestige cuvée but for the coherence of its entire range, which Bettane & Desseauve described as “dazzling in its balance, precision, and elegance.”
Dom Pérignon: a new era under Vincent Chaperon
The appointment of Vincent Chaperon as chef de cave following Richard Geoffroy’s departure has been watched closely by Champagne observers. The 2018 vintage marked Chaperon’s debut blend, and early indications are impressive. More significantly, the current run of Plénitude releases, with the 2006 and 2008 P2 both scoring 99 points in Club Oenologique’s 2025 Champagne Report, confirms the extraordinary depth of Dom Pérignon’s library of aged wines. The house’s ability to perform creditably even in difficult vintages like 2010 and 2017 speaks to the quality of sourcing across nearly 900 hectares of grand cru and premier cru villages.
Louis Roederer: Cristal at its zenith
Louis Roederer achieved a 100-point score from Club Oenologique for the Cristal 2013 in magnum in 2025, which the report described as a “dazzling symbol of the region’s potential.” The house has been quietly building one of the most consistent quality records in Champagne over the past decade, with Cristal and its rosé counterpart both regularly appearing at the very top of aggregated critic rankings. Roederer is also notable for its biodynamic farming initiatives, which align with a growing critical and consumer interest in vineyard transparency.
Krug: the multi-vintage model in a different key
Krug remains the reference point for non-vintage Champagne of genuine complexity, with the Grande Cuvée holding a consistent 96 points across major review platforms and the Clos du Mesnil blanc de blancs operating in a different category altogether at around 96 points and prices that reflect its cult status. The house’s Collection releases, offering aged expressions of older editions of the Grande Cuvée, are among the most intellectually interesting wines available anywhere in the region for serious vertical study.
Grower producers: the space between the houses
While the grandes maisons dominate headlines, one of the more significant structural shifts in Champagne over the past decade has been the rise of grower producers. Jacques Selosse remains the most critically cited, with three wines in Wine Lister’s top 20 quality rankings. But the broader grower category is attracting renewed attention from critics and collectors looking for terroir specificity and lower production volumes. For 2026, it is worth watching houses that blend the resources of a maison with the vineyard philosophy of a grower: the results from that middle ground are becoming increasingly compelling.
What to look for in 2026
Several factors will define which houses stand out this year. The 2018 harvest, now reaching market in its various expressions, is widely regarded as an excellent vintage with impressive structural balance and ageing potential. Houses that have managed the long lees ageing of their 2018 base wines with patience are likely to impress. Equally, the ongoing release of aged prestige cuvées from 2008 and 2012, two of the finest recent vintages in the region, will continue to generate critical attention. Finally, the conversation around sustainability, biodynamic viticulture, and precision farming is no longer peripheral: houses that can speak credibly to vineyard practice alongside cellar craft are the ones building the most durable reputations.
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