1996 in champagne. what happened?
by Edouard Bourgeois
November 21, 2025
Ratings for 1996 often use words like "exceptional" and "grandiose," with some comparisons to 1928. What made 1996 objectively unique was the high average potential alcohol (10.3%) combined with high total acidity (10g/litre)—figures rarely seen together. As Charles Philipponnat noted, this is a significant jump from the 9.3% potential alcohol common forty years prior.
Acidity and potential alcohol work together for balance, but typically, when one is high, the other is low. In 1996, both figures were high. Bruno Paillard called it a 'naughty boy' vintage due to its unpredictable nature and the anxiety it caused producers while waiting for acidity levels to drop. However, the result for those with patience is "fantastic."
While acidity is key for aging, the true test is time. Over two decades later, the remaining 1996 bottles reveal which producers succeeded. The best examples are still complex and alluring, where the high acidity is balanced by a wide range of aromas, from brioche to stone fruit. Unfortunately, some other bottlings show only residual acidity, resulting in unbalanced and tart wines.
I recall opening a glorious bottle of 1996 Cristal for my son's birth seven years ago; the wine was still vibrant and charged.
Another fabulous example was made by Krug. As Olivier Krug said, "It’s a year where a good house or a good winemaker will make a good wine... It’s a tricky vintage." Other industry professionals have shared similar sentiments, noting that some vintners either opted out of making a vintage bottling or failed to achieve balance, resulting in wines that are already clumsy or tired.
The 1996 vintage often draws comparisons to its predecessor, 1995. These were the last two great Champagne vintages following the 1988, 1989, and 1990 trio. The 1996s are powerful wines; the best combine weight from ripeness with tension from acidity, providing the interest, complexity, and structure needed for long-term aging.
Interestingly, more houses released 1995 as a vintage Champagne than 1996, with a ratio of roughly 60% (1995) to 40% (1996).
Given its unpredictability, the safest bet for 1996 Champagne remains to go with producers you trust.
While looking for pictures of 1996 Champagne on my IPhone, I also found several other wines from various regions where the 1996 vintage truly shone, as seen in images below;jbgories
Pressoir.wine Dinner Simon Bize Recap
By Edouard Bourgeois
5/5/23
Edouard Bourgeois
May 4, 2023
Simon Bize started as a vineyard owner in Savigny as far back as the late 19th century. Technology was archaic but it didn’t discourage him or his son, also named Simon, and the generations who followed to expand the family holdings and eventually built a proper winery in 1972 when Patrick Bize entered the scene. Labeled early on under the family name since the 1950’s, today, the familiar and sober label on a bottle of Bize is immediately recognizable to the savvy drinker. This is a Burgundy with rare finesse, with a real signature but the feather touch in the winemaking lets the nuances of each vintage sing. Known for a generous use of whole cluster, the wines at Bize demonstrate an extraordinary ability to age gracefully for the appellation of Savigny-les-Beaune. We were very pleased and thankful to the domaine to have the opportunity of showing twelve vintages of one the most appreciated of their premiers crus, the climat of Vergelesses. The site, facing the hill of Corton on the other side of the combe, is made of ideal geological condition with the exquisite white marl but also the presence of sandstone that gives finesse in the wines.
It was really impressive to taste throught the history of the domaine with wines made by Patrick Bize until 2013, the year of his passing, but also the brilliant wines his wife Chisa has been making for the last decade.
Below is my recap:
2019: Solar and expansive, this was not a shy wine. I felt the slight touch of stem aromatics due to whole cluster fermentation that will integrate in the wine over time. A great, wonderful start.
2018: Unfortunately, this particular bottle showed an unusual mustiness, suggesting TCA might be the culprit.
2017: My favorite wine of this first flight. As in 2016, the growing season brought a very worrying frost pressure in April but that year, the team was able to dodge the bullet more efficiently by burning up hay in the vineyard. The smoke it created was able to block the dangerous rays of sunlight that could have burned the young buds, resulting in a harvest of good quantity and gave wines of incredible finesse and brightness.
2016: As mentioned above, the frost in the Cote de Beaune will remain a historic and sad event in 2016, resulting in a 80% loss of the production at the domaine. A second generation of growth helped a little and the wines turned out quite good. I was a but mislead with the nose, finding it a touch dirty but the palate was beautiful and a touch peppery.
2015: A bigger wine for sure, although the wines at Bize are always soft spoken and pure. The higher alcohol was not an issue and I loved the black fruit concentration and energy.
2012: This was a great wine, especially considering the many challenges that Mother Nature threw, from frost and hail to diverse rot pressures. Luckily, the weather improved closer to the harvest and the thick skinned grape of that vintage gave a concentrated wine but with a superb floral character.
2011: Although the vegetal, almost asparagus like character associated with the vintage was apparent, I found a lot to love in that wine with the zippy acidity of tart red berries.
2010: I thought this was the wine that needed the most oxygen. It took quite a while to open up and its austerity brought some dryness on the palate. It kept getting better as the night went on.
2008: Excellent wine. I don’t always love that vintage in Burgundy, finding it a bit green on occasions but here, none of that. The nose was particularly expressive and the palate really rich in ripe strawberry.
2002: So much to love in this wine. Of course this was a leap back in time so this bottle really stood out but this bottle was a true reminder that the wines from Bize can really age! Perfect balance and irresitible fruit with sweet roundness on the palate.
1992: The highly anticipated 92 did not disappoint. An absolute show stopper and a perfect way to close the night. Ethereal and incredibly complex, the tertiary aromas of forest floor were laced with so much purity of fruit and impressive length. 1992 is often described as a weak vintage with very little aging potential and this bottle showed the exact opposite. This was a prisinte bottle that was kept since bottling at the domaine until a few months ago, especially shipped for us.
