Wines of the Year 2025: The Rhône, Champagne & regional France

Rhône Valley

From the five Rhône wines that scored 100 points throughout 2025, two make this list, from either end of the valley and from slightly older vintages: Clape’s 2010 Cornas and Château de Beaucastel’s 2014 white Châteauneuf.

Both are still on the market, so prospective buyers or those lucky enough to have them in their cellar will be richly rewarded. M Chapoutier’s white Hermitage L’Ermite is a fine showing from the tricky and varied 2024 vintage, which you can read about in our extensive en primeur coverage.

While 2024 Hermitage reds are less powerful than you might expect, it’s the whites that reign supreme. Château de Saint Cosme’s Le Claux warranted inclusion here, not just for its score of 97 points but also as a great representation of the heights that Gigondas continues to reach – and Saint Cosme is undoubtedly one of the best in the appellation.

Given that he’s a winemaker who has been cited as inspiration for other winemakers I’ve spoken to more times than I can count, Eric Pfifferling’s wines are still possible to come by, although they do sell out rather quickly.

A wine that is ‘tremulous and beautiful’, Domaine l’Anglore’s Tavel Les Sables simply had to make the cut for this year’s Wines of the Year selection.

Champagne & rest of France

In just a short time, young Adrien Dhondt has become a second generation Champagne paragon: his wines are some of the most sought-after in the region.

Les Nogers Cuis 1er Cru is included here for the impression it made on Champagne correspondent Tom Hewson, who profiled Champagne Dhondt-Grellet on Decanter Premium online in October 2025.

Meanwhile, the rosé Champagne category offers a panoply of styles and colours, but as they’re often priced above their white counterparts, they’re frequently overlooked and misunderstood.

The reality is there are plenty of serious rosé Champagnes that are exemplary wines in their own right, showing great technical finesse, impressive complexity and potential for long ageing.

Laurent-Perrier’s Alexandra rosé is the perfect example of this; an icon of its style. Beyond Champagne, it will come as no surprise to see the Loire’s Sauvignon stronghold Sancerre on this list.

The 2020 Les Ruchons from Henri Bourgeois was one of Beverley Blanning MW’s favourites in her exploration of Sancerre’s revival. Finally, it may seem quite the coup to feature Bandol and Corsica alongside these French stalwarts, yet it’s thoroughly well deserved.

Corsican wines are increasingly turning heads, with more making their way to UK shores. And in our panel tasting featuring Provence whites, Bandol stood out as the most exciting source appellation.

Wines of the year 2025: Rhône, Champagne and regional France:

Wines from the Rhône are listed first, then those from around France

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Champagne Dhondt-Grellet: The young grower at the top of his game