Booking choice: The Veuve Clicquot and family winery day, from $371 per person. Check dates Tour details
There is no objective winner between Moët and Veuve Clicquot, and anyone who names one is telling you their taste. What we can show is what goes into each bottle: the share of Pinot Noir, Meunier and Chardonnay, the reserve wines and the sugar, as the houses or their trade sheets publish them. Those numbers predict most of what you taste.
We add Taittinger, the third name people ask about, then the questions that come up in the same search: the top champagnes, the best in France, and what “poor man's champagne” means.
The quick answer
Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label is Pinot Noir-led (50 to 55%) and tastes fuller. Moët Impérial balances Pinot Noir and Meunier (30 to 40% each) for a fruitier, softer glass. Taittinger Brut Réserve has 40% Chardonnay and tastes lighter. Taste them where they are made: Veuve Clicquot and Taittinger in Reims, Moët in Épernay.
Is Moët or Veuve Clicquot better?
Neither. Pick Veuve Clicquot if you like a fuller, rounder champagne, Moët if you like it fruitier and softer. Both are non-vintage bruts with similar sugar.
The blends, from the houses and trade sheets:
| Moët Impérial Brut | Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label | Taittinger Brut Réserve | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pinot Noir | 30 to 40% | 50 to 55% | 35% |
| Meunier | 30 to 40% | 15 to 20% | 25% |
| Chardonnay | 20 to 30% | 28 to 33% | 40% |
| Reserve wines | 20 to 30% | About 25 to 40% | 30% |
| Dosage | 9 g/l | Brut | 9 g/l |
| Style | Lively fruit, supple | Fuller, structured | Lighter, brioche and almond |
Sources: Moët & Chandon, Difford's Guide on Yellow Label, Taittinger's Brut Réserve sheet. Pinot Noir brings body, Meunier suppleness and fruit, Chardonnay finesse and freshness, in Moët's own words.
What is the difference between Moët and Veuve Clicquot?
The grapes and the town. Veuve Clicquot leans on Pinot Noir and is made in Reims; Moët gives Meunier an equal share with Pinot Noir and is made in Épernay.
Moët's Impérial dates from 1869 and blends more than 100 wines, says the house. Veuve Clicquot's Yellow Label draws on 50 to 60 crus. Both houses belong to LVMH, so this is not a rivalry between owners, only between styles.
The histories differ more. Veuve Clicquot was founded in Reims in 1772 and run from 1805 by Barbe-Nicole Clicquot, who invented the riddling table in 1816, according to LVMH. Moët & Chandon is the house on the Avenue de Champagne in Épernay, with a 28 km network of cellars. Which is nicer, Veuve or Moët? Try them side by side: the difference in body shows up in the first sip.
Which champagne is better, Taittinger or Moët & Chandon?
Different again. Taittinger's Brut Réserve has 40% Chardonnay, unusually high for a house brut, and tastes lighter and more delicate than Moët Impérial.
Taittinger itself calls that Chardonnay share “unique among the great non-vintage champagnes” on its Brut Réserve sheet, which lists at least three years in the cellar, 30% reserve wines and 9 g/l dosage. Expect brioche, honey and a finish of toasted almonds. Moët Impérial, with more Meunier, is fruitier and rounder.
If you like Chardonnay-led champagne, go a step further: a blanc de blancs, made only from Chardonnay. Ruinart's is the famous one in Reims, and Taittinger's Comtes de Champagne is its top blanc de blancs. Taittinger's Instant Comtes visit (€80 to €90) is named after it.
Where are the Moët, Veuve Clicquot and Taittinger houses?
Veuve Clicquot and Taittinger are on the Saint-Nicaise hill in Reims, a few streets apart. Moët & Chandon is in Épernay, 34 minutes away by train.
Each sells its own visits. 2026 entry prices from the houses' pages:
| House | Address | Entry visit | Top visit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veuve Clicquot | 1 rue Albert Thomas, Reims | €36, 1 h | €260, 4 h |
| Taittinger | 9 place Saint-Nicaise, Reims | €40, 1 h | €80 to €90, 1 h 30 |
| Moët & Chandon | 18 avenue de Champagne, Épernay | €48, 1 h 30 | €520, dinner at the Orangerie |
Veuve Clicquot and Taittinger fit in one Reims day. Moët needs the train to Épernay; see Reims or Épernay to plan both. Veuve Clicquot opens only Wednesday to Sunday from 4 November 2026, and closes in deep winter: details in the Veuve Clicquot tour guide.
What are the top 3 and top 5 champagnes?
There is no official ranking. The five names visitors ask about most are Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Taittinger, Ruinart and Dom Pérignon, and they cover five different styles.
We would rather tell you what each one is than rank them:
- Moët Impérial: the fruity, balanced house brut. Épernay.
- Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label: Pinot Noir-led and fuller. Reims.
- Taittinger Brut Réserve: 40% Chardonnay, lighter. Reims.
- Ruinart Blanc de Blancs: all Chardonnay, from the oldest house on the Saint-Nicaise hill. Reims.
- Dom Pérignon: Moët & Chandon's prestige cuvée, vintage only, named after the monk buried in Hautvillers.
Each house also makes a top cuvée that it ranks above its brut: La Grande Dame at Veuve Clicquot, Comtes de Champagne at Taittinger. A vintage champagne must spend at least 36 months in the cellar, against 15 for non-vintage, under the AOC rules.
What is the best champagne in France?
The one that matches your taste, and often one you have never heard of: about 16,200 growers work 90% of Champagne's vines, and many bottle their own.
Choose by style rather than by name. Blanc de blancs (only Chardonnay) is fresh and lean. Blanc de noirs (only Pinot Noir and Meunier) is fuller. Rosé is usually blended with a little red wine, the method Veuve Clicquot claims to have started in 1818. Extra brut and brut nature have less sugar than brut. Vintage wines come from one year.
For the growers, the Comité Champagne counts 16,200 of them against 370 houses, which ship more than two-thirds of the bottles. Look for RM on the label. The easiest way to taste their work is a grower tour from Reims: the afternoon tour pours six glasses at two family wineries.
Six glasses at two family wineries and Hautvillers, from Reims station at 2pm.
Check dates for the afternoon family wineries tourWhat is poor man's champagne?
Crémant: French sparkling wine made by the same method as champagne, in the same bottle-fermented way, but outside Champagne and at a lower price.
Crémant goes through a second fermentation in the bottle, like champagne, and ages on its lees, the dead yeast that gives toasty flavours. The rules differ: crémant needs at least 9 months on the lees, says Gault&Millau, while champagne needs 15 months in the cellar for non-vintage and 36 for vintage under the Champagne AOC.
Crémant is made in Alsace, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Die, Jura, Limoux, the Loire and Savoie, from local grapes as well as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Crémant de Bourgogne is the closest in style to champagne, because it uses the same main grapes. “Poor man's” is unfair: a good crémant beats a dull champagne. It just is not champagne, which can only come from the delimited Champagne area.
Where can you taste Moët, Veuve Clicquot and others side by side?
In Reims: a house visit at Veuve Clicquot or Taittinger, the city centre tasting with a sommelier, or the Veuve Clicquot day, which pours about ten wines.
The city centre tasting in the Boulingrin district is a one-hour session with a sommelier and three champagnes, for over-18s, a short walk from the cathedral. It is the quickest way to learn how styles differ, without a car.
The Veuve Clicquot and family winery day puts a big house and a grower on the same day, with a blind tasting of three at lunch in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. Tasting a famous brut and then a grower's cuvée an hour later teaches you more than any ranking.
The Veuve Clicquot cellars, a blind tasting at lunch and a family winery, about ten tastings in one day.
Explore the Veuve Clicquot and family winery day Tour detailsFrequently asked questions
Is Veuve Clicquot sweeter than Moët?
Not noticeably. Both are brut. Moët Impérial has 9 g/l of sugar; Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label feels drier to many people because its Pinot Noir gives more body and less obvious fruit.
Which is more expensive, Moët or Veuve Clicquot?
Close. In UFC-Que Choisir's November 2025 test, Moët Impérial cost €41.93 and Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label €43.90 at Super U in France.
Are Moët and Veuve Clicquot the same company?
Both belong to LVMH, but they are separate houses with their own cellars, cellar masters and blends, in different towns: Moët in Épernay, Veuve Clicquot in Reims.
Can you visit Moët and Veuve Clicquot in one day?
Yes: Veuve Clicquot in Reims in the morning, the 34-minute TER, then Moët on the Avenue de Champagne in Épernay. Book both ahead, and check Veuve Clicquot's winter days.
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Choose your tour
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before on the grower tours; the checkout page shows each window. Prices are from-prices in USD and move with the season.
Afternoon Family Wineries Tour from Reims
- Meet at the Reims Centre station tourist office
- Two family-run wineries, three tastings at each
- Stop in Hautvillers and the UNESCO vineyards
Three Family Domains & Lunch from Reims
- Meet at the Reims Centre station tourist office
- Tastings at three family estates, nine glasses
- Lunch at a local restaurant (main course)
Morning Champagne Tour & Tastings
- Meet at the Reims Centre station tourist office, 9:20am
- Two family-run wineries, three cuvées at each
- Cellar and cuverie visit with the method explained
