Champagne runs in clear tiers: the great-house brut blends you can pour any night, rose champagne for food and celebration, and the prestige cuvees — vintage, cellar-aged flagships like Cristal and Dom Perignon — reserved for the biggest moments. Every tier is in stock at Del Mesa Liquor, our family-owned San Diego, California store, and available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor, from a $59.99 Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut to a $999.99 Dom Perignon 2006 limited edition.
Tier one: the classic brut blends
Non-vintage brut is the house style of Champagne — blended across years for consistency, dry, bright and endlessly pourable. It is the backbone of our champagne collection.
- Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut Champagne — $59.99. The world's best-known brut: golden fruit, brioche and a clean, generous finish. The default celebration bottle for a reason.
- Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label Champagne — $79.99. Pinot-noir-led and a shade richer, with the famous yellow label that needs no introduction at any table.
Tier two: rose champagne
Veuve Clicquot Rose Champagne ($84.99) adds red-fruit depth to the Yellow Label base — wild strawberry, cherry and pastry — which makes it the most food-friendly bottle in this guide: salmon, charcuterie, duck and anything off the grill. Browse more pink bottles in the wine collection, and keep a rose in the fridge whenever the menu is undecided.
Tier three: the prestige cuvees
- Louis Roederer Cristal Brut 2014 — $349.99. Roederer's flagship vintage champagne in its clear, gold-wrapped bottle — chalk, citrus oil, honey and a finish that refuses to end. A cellar bottle and a milestone bottle in one.
- Dom Perignon Brut Champagne Limited Edition by Michael Riedel 2006 — $999.99. A vintage 2006 Dom Perignon in a limited-edition Riedel bottling — nearly two decades on from harvest, this is a collector's champagne: mature, complex and increasingly hard to find at any price.
Prestige bottles also anchor a serious gift — a single flagship in a good box says more than a case of everyday wine. For a step between tiers, the cellar-aged blends in our champagne selection bridge everyday brut and vintage prestige.
How to serve champagne
Chill to about 45-50 degrees Fahrenheit, open with a quiet sigh rather than a pop, and pour into a white-wine glass or tulip rather than a narrow flute so the aromatics can open. Brut goes with oysters, fried food and salty snacks; rose takes richer dishes; prestige cuvees deserve to be the course, not just the accompaniment.
Frequently asked questions
What is a prestige cuvee?
A prestige cuvee is a champagne house's flagship bottling — its best vineyards, usually a single great vintage, and the longest cellar aging. Cristal and Dom Perignon are the classic examples, and both are in stock in this guide at $349.99 and $999.99.
What does brut mean on a champagne label?
Brut means dry — the finished champagne carries only a small dose of sugar, so it tastes crisp rather than sweet. Both Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut ($59.99) and Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label ($79.99) are brut, which is the most versatile style for food and toasts.
How long can champagne be stored?
Non-vintage brut is made to drink now and keeps well for two to three years stored cool and dark. Vintage prestige cuvees like Cristal 2014 can mature for a decade or more — the 2006 Dom Perignon in this guide is drinking at a mature peak right now.
Where can I buy Cristal and Dom Perignon online?
Both are in stock and available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor, a family-owned store in San Diego, California — Cristal Brut 2014 at $349.99 and the Dom Perignon Limited Edition by Michael Riedel 2006 at $999.99. Check our FAQs for ordering help.
Whatever the occasion tier, the right bottle is on the shelf and available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor. Read more in our other blog guides.