The sort of champagne most commonly drunk is the main non-vintage blend made by all producers. The sort of champagne most commonly written about and discussed by champagne aficionados, on the other hand, is each house’s prestige cuvée made in much, much smaller quantities (although the amount of Dom Pérignon produced by Mo?t & Chandon is a hotly debated and closely guarded secret).

Other famous examples of these steeply priced, distinctively designed bottles of liquid luxury are Cristal from Louis Roederer and any wine from Krug (like Mo?t, owned by LVMH). But virtually every champagne house has one fancy top-of-the-range product.

Most produce other wines too, priced somewhere in the wide cost gap between NV and prestige cuvée. Rosé champagne has become increasingly popular and nowadays the houses are putting real effort into ensuring these pink wines — generally much darker than the very pale salmon that was all the rage a decade or so ago — are well made and satisfying.