My Top Five Party Champagnes

My top party champagnes are ones I take to parties where I know I will be sharing so the aim is to buy around or under $50. The point of these champagnes is to have fun more than worry too much about flavour profiles and mouthfeel.

If you haven’t seen my Top five champs for every day, please check them out too. These are the champagnes I’d pop at home any day I feel like champagne. These are still relatively affordable in the bigger scheme of all things champagne, but when you read my other top 5 for Special Occasions, Really Special Occasions, and Really, Really Special Occasions, you start to get a sense of the upwards price trajectory.

My top five party champagnes 

So these are all fun, easy-drinking party faves that champs fans and the non-believers alike can enjoy (is there anyone I haven’t converted yet!?!?!). And all the options on this list you can find easily and quickly on the way to the party – they are at pretty much any bottle shop. But I do recommend stocking up on anything on this list when there are good deals as you will save yourself a lot of money over a year.

And beware – proper champagne is like a magnet for freeloaders at parties. Champagne freeloaders will come from far and wide if they know there is real champagne in the ice bucket, so I also highly recommend studying my strategies for dealing with freeloaders!

1. My all-time top party champagne… G.H. Mumm Cordon Rouge

My friends know to always take “an emergency bottle of Mumm” to every party. My experience is people always underestimate…

1. how much champagne they want to drink OR
2. how much of your champagne other people will want to drink.

And no one wants to realise one hour into the party they have run out and have to drink cheap sparkling because that’s all that’s left!

My emergency Mumm policy has stood the test of time and is now widely adopted amongst my friends, with someone always asking “Who’s bringing the emergency bottle/s of Mumm?” before every party.

I am 100% confident G.H. Mumm won’t be offended about being a party champs… I actually think they’d love it. Any house that has a CEO (Chief Entertainment Officer) and appoints Usain Bolt to the position, is up for some fun.

You can usually buy Mumm Cordon Rouge for around AU$55. For quality, price, and “you can get it anywhere” value (as in driving past the smallest, dodgiest bottle shop on the way to a party), you can’t go past GH Mumm for your top party champagne.

And I really do find the Mumm Cordon Rouge is a simple and enjoyable champs that everyone likes. Its fruit-driven flavours,  freshness, and easy-drinking are its hallmarks. 

The Technical Details

The Blend

45% Pinot Noir

30% Chardonnay

25% Meunier

Blended from 120 crus (including grand crus, premier crus, and crus) 

Dosage – 8 g/l 

Aged – for a minimum of 20 months on lees

Reserve wines – 25 – 30% reserve wines, which may be up to nine years old.

Total annual production – 5-8 million bottles 

Bubble & Flute Champagne Style* – Rich & Robust 

Read the full review of the Mumm Cordon Rouge here. 

2. Piper-Heidsieck Cuvée Brut

Piper-Heidsieck is on my party list because it deserves to be based on value for money and taste but also because of its strong connection to the film industry and awards night.  Piper-Heidsieck has been the champagne of choice at The Cannes Film Festival since 1992, the Oscars (1992, 1998, and since 2015), and even the AFTAs here in Australia. If it’s good enough for an Oscars’ party, then it’s good enough for me!

The Piper-Heidsieck champagne style is very distinct marrying the structure of the pinot noir, with the fruits of the meunier, the elegance of the chardonnay, and the timeless flavours of the reserve wines. The extra pinot noir and meunier and less chardonnay gives it a little more depth and complexity than the Mumm, so if that’s your champagne style, the Piper is for you. 

Piper is one of the few ‘big’ champagne brands whose Cuvée Brut has remained at or under the $50 mark over the last few years, in part due to the house introducing a new cuvée, the Essentiel Brut Champagne that competes in the $70 – $80 range.     

The technical details 

55% Pinot Noir

30% Pinot Meunier

15% Chardonnay

Blended from 100 villages

Reserve wines – 10-20%
Dosage – 9-10 g/l

Aged – for 3 years

Total Annual Production – the house produces 4 million bottles a year

Bubble & Flute Champagne Style* – Rich & Robust 

Read the full review of the Piper-Heidsieck Cuvée Brut here. 

3. Moët & Chandon Brut Impérial NV

There is little doubt in my mind that Moët & Chandon is the most recognised champagne brand on the planet and arguably no other brand has done more to pioneer using champagne for celebration. 

Moët goes so far as to credit Jean-Remy Moët, grandson of founder Claude Moët, as being the man who introduced champagne to the world and this quote about Jean-Remy Moët says it all… “Much like his champagnes, when Monsieur Moët enters the room, boredom disappears.” 

Moët & Chandon produces more champagne than any other house in Champagne… 30 million bottles! And the Brut Impérial alone accounts for more than 20 million bottles, which is about 7% of Champagne’s total production.

That is a LOT of champagne and means they are buying grapes from everywhere (and anywhere) so if you are looking for character and uniqueness, this is not the wine for you. But as a party wine, it’s perfect.

The price of the Moët & Chandon Brut Impérial has gone up over the last few years. You used to be able to pick it up for under $50 but now it’s usually around $60. 

The Technical Details

The Blend

30-40% Pinot Noir

30-40% Meunier

20-30% Chardonnay

A blend of more than 100 different wines 

Dosage – 9 g/l 

Aged – for a minimum of 2 years on lees

Reserve wines – 30 – 55% reserve wines

Total annual production – 20 million bottles 

Bubble & Flute Champagne Style* – Rich & Robust  

Read the full review of the Moët & Chandon Brut Impérial here. 

4. Jacquart Brut Mosaïque

My first tasting of Champagne Jacquart was at New York Champagne Week in 2017, the day after I ran my first (and so far only) marathon. I considered it my reward for 42 kilometres of hell… and while I haven’t pumped out another marathon yet, I have popped quite a few more bottles of Jacquart since. 

In fact, since that first tasting, I have regularly used the Champagne Jacquart Brut Mosaïque in my tasting events because it is so approachable and enjoyable. 

Which is why it’s on my party list… everyone enjoys it AND while it is generally priced at $75 a bottle, you can often buy the Champagne Jacquart Brut Mosaïque from Vintage Cellars in a 2 for $100 bundle or simply on sale for around $50 making it exceptional value. Stock up when it’s on sale. 

The Technical Details

The Blend

40% Chardonnay

35% Pinot Noir

25% Meunier

A blend of 60 villages with a focus on the grand crus of the Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims

Dosage – 9 g/l 

Aged – for a minimum of 3 years on lees

Reserve wines – 25 – 35% reserve wines

Total annual production – total house production is 1.2 million bottles 

Bubble & Flute Champagne Style* – Fresh & Crisp 

Read the full review of the Jacquart Brut Mosaïque here. 

5. Taittinger 

Every time I drink a bottle of Taittinger Brut Réserve I imagine a soundtrack of Jack Johnson playing in the background. That chilled-out, happy, relaxed summer vibe, always brings a smile to my face. So for a summer beach or backyard BBQ party, the Taittinger Brut Réserve is my go-to.

That and the house itself describes the Taittinger Brut Réserve as a symbol of festivity and the ideal partner for celebrations.

You can usually find the Taittinger Brut Réserve in most wine retailers for about $70 – $75 and while that is a little more than the rest of my party champagnes it’s worth it. 

The Technical Details

The Blend

40% Chardonnay

35% Pinot Noir

25% Meunier

Blended from 30 – 45 crus (including 20% grand crus) 

Dosage – 8-9 g/l 

Aged – for a minimum of 3 years on lees

Reserve wines – 30% reserve wines

Total annual production – total house production is 6.5 million bottles 

Bubble & Flute Champagne Style* – Fresh & Crisp 

Read the full review of the Taittinger Brut Réserve here. 

What are your top party champagnes? Next time you’re drinking one of these or your own favourite party champagnes, post a pic and tag @bubbleandflute#happychamper and let me know.