Stories

A glass before dinner is one of life's great pleasures. But it's also where most people stop — and there is almost nothing Champagne can't be drunk with.

Champagne can now be bottled above 13% for the first time. Don't expect 15% wines from 2026, but the fact that the line had to move at all says a lot about this summer.

Roederer holds back a slice of every Cristal vintage for another decade before letting it go. Four magnums in Reims, and what all that waiting actually does.