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
News from the Vineyard
By Edouard
9/14/20
Sources: The New York Times, The INAO website, La Revue du Vin de France, Wine Searcher
Finally some Premiers Crus in Pouilly-Fuissé!
When I started learning about wine in my teenage years in France, it was my dad’s favorite quiz question to ask “what’s the difference between Pouilly-Fumé and Pouilly-Fuissé?” If you don’t know the answer, the former is a wine produced from Sauvignon Blanc grapes and a neighbor to the famous Sancerre in the center Loire Valley of France, while the latter comes from the southernmost sub-region of Burgundy and is of course made from Chardonnay. Even if Pouilly-Fumé has been quite famous and present on many French restaurants’ tables in the US for the last decades, its reputation as the “Burgundy of the poor” still seems to be deeply rooted in consumers’ minds. But this may change. A couple weeks ago, 22 climats were finally identified as Premiers Crus. Pouilly-Fuissé, despite being among the first wines to gain an AOC (appellation d’origine contrôlée) in 1936, never had the permission to claim Premiers Cru status. The overlooked appellation of the prestigious Burgundy wine region has finally earned the official recognition it’s been fighting for since 2007.
This area, part of the Maconnais and famous for the towering Roche de Solutré, a pilgrimage destination of former French President Francois Mitterrand, offers similar soil and subsoil as the rest of Burgundy with the typical clay and limestone combination, with the addition of a solid granitic base, a wink to its southern neighbor Beaujolais.
The news of elevating some Pouilly-Fuissé terroirs to Premiers Crus arrived in the middle of the historic 2020 harvest and is bringing a smile to many producers’ faces as it could translate into a financial boost in the region.
The Roche de Solutré, in the heart of the Pouilly-Fuissé AOP, towers over the vineyards at 1,640 feet