Champagne’s star winemakers of tomorrow

Champagne is in flux; it is also booming. This is true across the board. Prestige cuvées sell on allocation, prices of leading high street brands climb steadily, and certain coveted grower Champagnes from the likes of Jérôme Prévost or Guillaume Selosse cannot be had for love nor money – even if you could afford the stratospheric prices that they command. Land prices in Champagne have quintupled over the past 30 years, according to Statista 2023 data. Clearly demand outstrips supply.

A global army of fizz fans willing to shell out for top bottlings of big names and micro-cuvées from cultish growers fires this boom, which enables fascinating start-ups looking to fill the gap – from the Massif de Saint-Thierry just above the city of Reims all the way south to the Côte des Bar. Some of these are the star winemakers of tomorrow.

Scroll down to see Anne Krebiehl’s selection of grower Champagnes to seek out

Refreshingly, the newcomers are a mixed bunch. There are locals and outsiders, old hands and fresh-faced youngsters. Some have only just launched their first wines; others have operated below the radar for a while. Most of them come from families who own vineyards and have previously sold their grapes – giving them the opportunity to start making wine from part of the harvest while selling the rest, thereby financing their own venture.