Was 2018 a good year in Champagne?
Champagne 2018 scores 93 out of 100. A bumper crop, perfectly clean and plush, but acidity fell to 5.9 g/l and the wines are notably soft. Careful producers made excellent wine; the vintage rewards selection.
Record rainfall through the first half of the year gave way to the second warmest summer on record, and picking began on 20 August, the earliest start Champagne has recorded.
What it has traded at
| Month | Low | Median | High | Trades |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07 | £162 | £163 | £168 | 10 |
Should you buy the 2018?
The asking price is at or below what it last traded at. Retail asks usually sit above traded prices because a shop carries the stock, the risk and the guarantee, so a small gap is normal and a large one is worth questioning.
Whatever you pay, ask the seller when the bottle was last moved and how it has been kept. Storage history changes what a mature bottle is worth far more than a few pounds on the shelf price.