Grower Champagne: Why Perth's Wine Scene Is Going Beyond the Big Names
Walk into any serious wine bar or independent bottle shop in Europe right now, and you'll notice something: the most enthusiastic conversations about Champagne are not about Moët, Veuve Clicquot, or even Bollinger. They're about names you might not have heard yet - small, independent producers from tiny villages across the Champagne region who grow their own grapes, make their own wine, and bottle under their own label. These are grower Champagnes, and they represent one of the most exciting developments in the world of fine wine over the past two decades.
At Steves Winestore in Nedlands, we've been passionate advocates for grower Champagne for years, and our cellar holds an outstanding selection for Perth wine lovers looking to explore beyond the familiar labels.
What Is Grower Champagne?
To understand grower Champagne, it helps to know how the big houses work. Brands like Moët & Chandon or Taittinger typically purchase grapes from hundreds of small growers across the Champagne appellation. Their blending teams then combine wines from multiple vintages and vineyards to create a consistent, recognisable house style year after year. There is real skill in this, and the results are reliably good - but they are, by design, products of consistency rather than individuality.
Grower Champagnes work differently. The producer - known in French as a récoltant-manipulant, often identified by the letters "RM" on the label - grows their own grapes, makes their own wine, and bottles it themselves. Because the wine comes from a specific place, made by a specific family, it expresses what winemakers call terroir: the unique character of the land, the microclimate, and the choices made by the people who tend it.
The result is wines of striking individuality. A grower Champagne from the Côte des Blancs will taste completely different from one made in the Montagne de Reims or the Vallée de la Marne. This diversity is what makes the category so compelling.
The Dom Pérignon x Takashi Murakami 2015 - Art Meets Champagne
For collectors and connoisseurs alike, the Dom Pérignon x Takashi Murakami Limited Edition 2015 is one of the most talked-about Champagne releases in recent memory. Dom Pérignon, the prestige cuvée of Moët Hennessy, represents the pinnacle of Champagne's house tradition. The 2015 vintage is a remarkable wine: a warm, sunny growing season produced grapes of exceptional ripeness and concentration, resulting in a Champagne of great depth, with flavours of toasted brioche, candied citrus, fresh apricot, and a mineral precision that speaks of the grand cru vineyards from which it is sourced.
The collaboration with Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami adds an extraordinary visual dimension to an already extraordinary wine. The packaging - featuring Murakami's signature smiling flowers in vivid multi-colour - makes this one of the most visually arresting luxury gifts available anywhere. At $600, it is a statement piece: a conversation starter, a collector's item, and genuinely one of the finest Champagnes of the decade. Available in very limited quantities at Steves Winestore.
Why Champagne Deserves to Be Aged
One of the most common misconceptions about Champagne is that it should always be drunk as young and as cold as possible. While there are styles - particularly lighter, brut non-vintage Champagnes - that are designed for immediate drinking, the finest vintage Champagnes reward patience. The 2015 Dom Pérignon, for example, is only now entering its ideal drinking window and will continue to develop beautifully for another ten to fifteen years.
If you have space in a wine fridge or cellar, investing in a few bottles of serious vintage Champagne is one of the great pleasures of wine collecting. The transformation that occurs over five or ten years - the way the primary fruit softens and integrates, the way the bready, nutty autolytic complexity develops, the way the bubbles become creamier and more refined - is extraordinary.
Champagne as a Gift in Perth
Few gifts communicate sophistication and generosity as effectively as a great bottle of Champagne. At Steves Winestore, our curated Champagne selection spans a wide range of styles and price points, from elegant aperitif Champagnes in the $80 - $120 range to rare museum vintages and prestige cuvées for truly special occasions.
We also offer Steves gift vouchers, which make the perfect present for someone who would enjoy choosing their own bottle and enjoying in-house,
