Cedric Bouchard

Cedric Bouchard trained as a sommelier and wine merchant in Paris before founding his own tiny estate in Celles-sur-Ource, in the Aube, in 2000. He named it Roses de Jeanne after his grandmother.

His method is the strictest in Champagne: every cuvee comes from a single grape, a single parcel, a single vintage — no blending across plots or years, which is close to the opposite of how most Champagne is made.

Yields are kept extremely low, and total production across every cuvee combined is around 15,000 bottles a year — among the smallest in the region. Gault Millau named him Champagne's best winemaker in 2008, and prices have climbed hard since: one bottling roughly doubled in a single year on the secondary market, and six bottles of a rare rose once sold at Christie's for $2,600.