2026 London dinner wines revealed. Here's what we'll be sipping.

Ahead of our annual Champagne Academy dinner in London, we are delighted to reveal the wines that will be served at this special event. As is tradition, the Champagnes will be selected from the outgoing presidential house, Veuve Clicquot, the current presidential house Krug, and the incoming presidential house, Lanson.

Krug Grande Cuvée 173ème Edition

The most generous expression of Champagne

Krug Grande Cuvée 173ème Édition is the House’s emblematic multi-vintage blend, crafted to recreate the fullest expression of Champagne each year. This edition is composed around the harvest of 2017, complemented by an extensive selection of reserve wines from multiple years, some aged for over a decade. Through meticulous parcel-by-parcel vinification and long maturation in Krug’s cellars, the House achieves remarkable depth, harmony, and complexity, a signature that transcends any single vintage.

In the glass, it displays a luminous golden colour with an exceptionally fine and persistent mousse. The nose is generous and layered, revealing aromas of ripe orchard fruits, citrus zest, and white flowers, intertwined with notes of toasted brioche, marzipan, roasted hazelnuts, and delicate spice.

On the palate, it is at once rich and vibrant, combining creamy texture with remarkable freshness and precision. Flavours of almond paste, candied lemon, pear, and subtle honeyed nuances unfold toward a long, structured, and elegant finish. Powerful yet refined, Krug Grande Cuvée 173ème Édition embodies both opulence and tension, offering immediate pleasure while promising impressive evolution over time.

“Older wines from the 2000s add a patina of elegance, roundness and generosity to the final blend.”

Julie Cavil, Krug Cellar Master

Crafted Around The 2017 Harvest

A year that started cold until early clement weather awakened the wines prematurely. The region suffered 20% fruit loss from spring frosts & heavy summer downpours. Dry and hot weather saved the remaining grapes for harvest, which took place from 25 August to 15 September.

The Final Blend

The heterogeneity of the plots in 2017 was reflected in the tasting room with very nice expressions, but sometimes also a certain inconsistency and rusticity. The selection of reserve wines brings elegance with 2014 and 2011 Chardonnays, or racy 2000s Pinot Noirs. It also offers structure with Montagne de Reims Nord and a very straight 2016 Meunier. This edition of Krug Grande Cuvée is composed of 44% Pinot Noir, 34% Chardonnay and 22% Meunier.

Pairing Inspiration

• Moroccan hake chermoula

• Tarte tatin

• Turbot with truffles

• Oysters and grilled prawns

Simple pleasure:

• Jabugo ham and mature comté

• Asparagus roasted with garlic butter

Krug Vintage 2011

The expression of a year as interpreted by Krug

Krug 2011 is a singular vintage that exemplifies the House’s philosophy of crafting wines of exceptional precision and complexity. The 2011 growing season in Champagne was marked by an unusually warm spring followed by a cool, challenging summer, producing grapes with concentrated aromas, bright natural acidity, and distinctive personality. Each vineyard parcel was vinified separately, allowing Krug’s winemakers to preserve the unique expression of the year while building the richness and depth characteristic of the House.

In the glass, Krug 2011 reveals a luminous golden hue with a fine, persistent mousse. The nose is intense and layered, offering notes of ripe orchard fruits, citrus zest, white flowers, and subtle herbal undertones, interwoven with hints of brioche, roasted almond, and gentle spice from extended aging on lees. On the palate, it is both vibrant and structured, combining generosity with tension, silky texture, and chalky minerality. The finish is long, precise, and elegant, reflecting the singular character of the vintage. Distinctive and refined, Krug 2011 embodies the balance between power and finesse, with exceptional potential for further evolution in the cellar.

The Story of 2011 Captured By Krug

Krug Vintage celebrates the distinct character of a particular year, a blend of its most expressive wines, enhanced by over a decade in the cellars. Each Krug Vintage is unique: it is the small ensemble performing the music of the year, captured by Krug.

“Spirited Roundness”

The surprising alliance of finesse and power: the contrasted and vibrant expression of the year 2011. Krug 2011 is a captivating and incredibly fresh blend of 46% Pinot Noir, 37% Chardonnay and 17% Meunier.

The Year 2011

A year 2011 split in two, with reversed seasons and an abrupt switch upon flowering. Unbridled summer weather in spring spurred flowering in mid-May, three weeks earlier than usual. Rainfall and cool weather ensued. Then, on the eve of harvest, four scorching days were followed by intense rain and a sudden.

Pairing Inspiration

• Oyster tartare with a lobster emulsion

• Pistachio Chaource in pastry sheets

• Spicy dishes

• Grilled meats

• Flavourful shellfish

• Indulgent desserts

Lanson Vintage Collection 1989 Demi-Sec En Magnum

A Champagne Revealed by Time

Le Vintage 1989 Demi-Sec is a rare cuvée whose story unfolded quietly over four decades. Originally created for a German distributor to celebrate the Millennium, this special disgorgement was never released after a devastating storm in December 1999 forced the cancellation of all planned events and thus, the order. The wines remained in the cellar. Unsold, unexpected, and without a clear future.

Over time, regular tastings revealed something remarkable. The generous 35 g/l demi-sec dosage, once striking, had melted seamlessly into the wine, achieving a natural harmony only time can deliver.

“With time, the dosage became more harmonious. The sugar has completely melted into the wine, revealing a subtle balance between freshness and richness.”

Hervé Dantan, Chef de Caves

Crafting the Blend

Blended from 56% Pinot Noir and 44% Chardonnay, sourced exclusively from Grand and Premier Cru villages and crafted with 100% non-malolactic fermentation, the wine shows a deep old-gold colour with copper hues.

On the nose, it reveals candied fruit and tertiary notes, while the palate is generous and full-bodied, balanced by freshness and a long, subtly chalky finish. Despite its demi-sec style, the wine remains poised and elegant.

Lanson Le Vintage 1989 Demi-Sec offers more than rarity; it is a testament to patience, restraint and the quiet confidence to let time do its work. The lesson: greatness is not always planned, but sometimes revealed, decades later.

Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2018

Elegance and precision

Veuve Clicquot’s prestige cuvée, Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2018, is the 25th release of the house’s flagship vintage Champagne. It’s named after Madame Barbe-Nicole Clicquot, “La Grande Dame de la Champagne”, the pioneering widow who transformed the house in the early 1800s.

The 2018 Champagne growing season is widely regarded as exceptional: warm, sunny, and generous, producing ripe fruit with strong concentration and balance. Critics and producers have described it as one of the best modern Champagne vintages.

For La Grande Dame 2018, Veuve Clicquot leaned heavily into its signature Pinot Noir style, crafting a blend of 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Chardonnay with brut dosage of 6 g/L. Its deep and precise style is characterised by subtle finesse and freshness, expressed through its salinity. All its grapes are sourced from historic Grand Cru vineyards and have an expected ageing potential of 15+ years.

"Deep and precise, La Grande Dame 2018 vintage expresses a new facet of l'Art du Pinot Noir"

Didier Mariotti, Cellar Master

La Grande Dame honours Madame Clicquot's groundbreaking vision with a blend that features 90% Pinot Noir, her favourite variety. She once wrote, "Our black grapes give the finest white wines".

Following in Madame Cliquot's footsteps, today's Cellar Master carries the flame to perpetuate her intuition, fine-tuning the balance and tension between selected Pinot Noirs to achieve the unique oenological signature of La Grande Dame elegance and precision.

Style and tasting profile

This is not a soft, creamy “crowd-pleaser” Champagne in the style of some richer prestige cuvées. La Grande Dame 2018 is more about precision, structure, tension, and mineral freshness.

Common tasting notes include:

• Lemon zest, yuzu, grapefruit

• White peach and pear

• Ginger and subtle spice

• Toasted brioche and almond

• Saline/mineral finish with oyster-shell character

Pairing inspiration

This cuvée finds its voice alongside delicate, ocean-inspired flavours such as scallop carpaccio or lemon linguine with shellfish.