Unbelievably (to us at least), it has been two years since we released our first Tatler Dining Guide to Champagne, during which time champagne sales reached their highest levels ever, breaking the €6 billion ceiling in 2022.

My hypothesis when I first pitched this Guide in 2021 was that champagne was taking off globally, but especially within Asia—a prediction that has played out to some degree, even as worldwide champagne sales have slowed considerably. Japan, long a giant market for champagne, sits at number three in the world after the US and UK and grew rapidly from 2021 to 2022, but other parts of Asia have played a role too. Over that same period, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Singapore’s consumption all picked up massively and South Korea’s market is now second only to Japan’s within Asia. Meanwhile, Greater China’s champagne sales jumped 50 per cent from 2020 to 2021, but 2022 saw them drop substantially (though they were still well up from pre-pandemic levels).  

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Meanwhile, collectible champagne – one category we highlighted in the last edition of the Guide—has had a rather wild ride over that period, with prices soaring and then dropping 16 per cent from October 2022 to October 2023, according to Liv-Ex. However, the newly attractive prices mean it’s a brilliant time to stock up on some classic champagne collectibles: Dom Pérignon, Cristal and Comtes de Champagne for example, many of which are looking like bargains compared to the secondary market prices for cult grower champagnes from Selosse, Cédric Bouchard and Ulysses Collin.  

However, to me, the clearest sign of champagne’s broader acceptance as a wine, rather than a luxury good, is anecdotal, and comes down to the number of wine people (and civilians) I know in Asia who are now perfectly comfortable bringing champagne to dinner with friends to drink with the meal rather than as an apéritif.  They’ve also finally started serving it in white wine glasses (or at least tulip-shape glasses) rather than flutes, as have many of the restaurants and private clubs that have invested in a broader champagne selection. The progress is real.

So what has happened with the wines and the region since we last checked in? Despite constant prognostications about the imminent demise of Grower Champagne as a category, the market doesn’t seem to agree. There has probably never been so much demand for champagnes grown, made, aged and marketed by these small, independent estates. Consequently—and also because their production tends to be tiny—more than a few of the wines I tasted for this Guide will no longer be available by the time we publish, for which I apologise in advance (for especially tightly allocated bottles I will try to make alternative recommendations within the entry so that you can at least try something similar). To get the insider scoop on what is happening within this vibrant area of the market, I chatted with Fabrice Parisot, owner of Les Caves du Forum, a multi award-winning wine shop under the Forum in Reims.

Meanwhile, beyond this sexy niche of the market (and it is a niche—only about 5 per cent of the champagne imported to Greater China is grower champagne), what are the champagne style trends we should be paying attention to, both in our region and globally? I break these down in a “trend report” that will help you keep up with the champagne cognoscenti if that is your goal, or at least explore some new styles if you have fallen into a bit of a bubble rut. However, it is worth remembering that unlike the fashion industry with which it is so closely linked, the wine industry (and the champagne industry especially, given some wines can take upwards of a decade to make) is not one that can change rapidly.  

As previously, the Guide is divided into categories based on “purpose”, though there is inevitably some blurriness: some collectible champagnes are also brilliant food matches while some of the culinary champagnes will happily improve in bottle over a decade or more (and all champagnes are celebratory, really).  

• Collectible: rare bottles for extended cellaring
• Celebratory: for gifting or special occasions
• Culinary: particularly well suited to food