Vin de réserve

French · reserve wine

Vin de réserve is wine from earlier harvests kept to blend into later cuvées. It adds complexity and consistency of style and is excluded from vintage Champagne.1,2,3

Reserve wines are blended with the vins de l'année during assemblage. The Comité Champagne says they help keep the house style consistent,4 the style the chef de cave aims to match.3

The Union des Maisons de Champagne also mentions reserve wines at least two years old in the liqueur d'expédition.5 A blend may draw on one or more varieties and crus, or on a single year for a vintage.6 Under EU rules a vintage year may be shown only if at least 85% of the grapes come from that year.7 See non-vintage, multi-vintage and vintage.

See also

AssemblageGlossaryNon-vintage (sans année)StylesMulti-vintageStylesVintage (millésime)StylesAssemblage and reserve winesMethods

Sources

  1. Comité Champagne (champagne.education). Fiche Élaboration du Champagne (FR) (2024-05)
  2. Cahier des charges de l'AOP « Champagne » - modifications approved by the INAO national committee on 11 September 2024 (national opposition procedure text) (2024-09-11)
  3. Union des Maisons de Champagne (UMC). Blending a Grande Marque cuvée
  4. Comité Champagne / champagne.education. L'élaboration du Champagne (fiche) (2024)
  5. Union des Maisons de Champagne. Dosage
  6. Comité Champagne (champagne.fr). Blending
  7. EUR-Lex. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33 (consolidated text), Articles 47, 48, 49, 53, 54 and Annex III Part A (2023-12-08)

Facts checked on 2026-10-19