Was 1985 a good year in Champagne?
Champagne 1985 scores 95 out of 100. All three varieties reached high ripeness. Beautifully balanced and intense with great length, and still improving decades on.
A severe winter and spring frosts destroyed close to a tenth of the vineyard, worst in the Montagne de Reims, but the cold left the survivors healthy. A tiny 6,827 kg/ha picked from 30 September.
What drinkers rate it
93.2 out of 100 from 20 ratings, the most recent in 2025.
Should you buy the 1985?
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.