Champagne magnums

The magnum, the cellar masters' preferred format

A champagne magnum contains 1.5 litres, the equivalent of two bottles, and serves about a dozen glasses. This is not just a matter of quantity: with an identical neck and cork, the magnum holds twice as much wine for the same surface area in contact with air. The champagne evolves more slowly, keeps its freshness longer and gains in complexity — which is why the houses keep their old vintages in magnum. Like the bottle, it undergoes its second fermentation in the very bottle in which it is sold.

Magnum, jeroboam, methuselah: which format should you choose?

Allow about two flutes per person for an aperitif. Each large format doubles the one before:

• Magnum — 1.5 litres, two bottles, 12 flutes: a dinner for six to eight, a New Year's Eve party.
• Jeroboam — 3 litres, four bottles, 24 flutes: a large table, a birthday. A "3-litre magnum" is in fact a jeroboam.
• Methuselah — 6 litres, eight bottles, 48 flutes: a wedding, a reception.

Champagne magnum prices

In our selection, most non-vintage bruts from the great houses cost between €70 and €130 in magnum; vintages and prestige cuvées between €290 and €650. A magnum generally costs a little more than two bottles of the same cuvée — up to 20% more — and a jeroboam more still: these bottles are produced in far smaller quantities than the standard bottle.

Our magnums by house

For a non-vintage brut to share, Taittinger's Brut Prestige, Bollinger's Spécial Cuvée, Pol Roger's Brut Réserve and Gosset's Grande Réserve are safe choices; Laurent-Perrier, Billecart-Salmon, Charles Heidsieck, Ayala and Canard-Duchêne complete the selection. For rosé, Laurent-Perrier's Cuvée Rosé also comes in magnum.

For laying down or a great occasion, we bring together vintages rarely found in large format: Amour de Deutz 2011, 2013 and 2015, Rare 2008, and the 2002, 2004 and 2006 vintages from Laurent-Perrier, bottled only in magnum and aged eighteen to more than twenty years on the lees. Deutz is the best-represented house, from magnum to jeroboam (Brut Classic, William Deutz 2009); Taittinger also offers its Brut Prestige in jeroboam. Dom Pérignon and Veuve Clicquot's La Grande Dame Rosé join the selection as stock arrives.

Chilling and serving a magnum

A magnum takes twice as long to chill as a bottle: about four hours in the fridge, or thirty minutes in a large bucket of water, ice and a handful of coarse salt. Serve non-vintage bruts at around 8–10 °C and vintages at around 10–12 °C, in large glasses. To pour, hold the bottle by its base with your thumb in the punt, and fill the flutes in two goes to let the mousse settle. Until the big day, store it lying down, away from light, between 10 and 15 °C.

To go further, our guide which champagne magnum to choose compares the cuvées one by one, and our article on champagne bottle sizes details every format, from the quarter to the melchizedek.