Alfavin – For everyone seeking mature Champagne in perfection

It is far more than just a symbol of luxury and festive moments. Over the years, it matures into one of the most complex wines in the world. Exceptional Champagnes can still bring pleasure even after 100 years. Champagne also reaches its first maturity after a long aging on the lees in the winemaker’s cellar.

At Alfavin, the online shop with a wide selection of vintage Champagnes, you will find not only current vintages but above all mature ones.

The aging takes place over many years in high humidity and low temperatures. This ensures slow, more complex aroma development, and despite their age, the bottles remain fresh.

We do not offer a Wikipedia on grape varieties, terroirs, viticulture, or cellar techniques. We are not competing with Chat GPT. Nor do we want to underestimate the often astonishing detailed knowledge of our customers.

Instead, we want to show the ideas behind this selection: every day we could buy good Champagnes that we nevertheless pass over.

Courage to leave gaps in times of hype and exploding prices

Our philosophy is simple: less is more, and what counts is what you taste in the glass

We do not follow trendy winemakers who achieve a maximum wow effect with an Instagram post.

We focus on the best vintages, renowned houses, and selected winemakers who develop their own style away from the mainstream.

Today, there are many winemakers whose best Champagnes taste great. But who offers quality across the entire range, even in difficult vintages?

Should we make compromises to offer allocations of top cuvées? No – every bottle in our cellar, every bottle on Alfavin.de must be so good that we would drink it ourselves. Before we buy a Champagne, it is sensorially tested and selected according to strict quality criteria.

A plea for openness

Alfavin is aimed at Champagne lovers for whom only the quality in the glass counts.

We do not experience Champagne as a glamorous display of an elite lifestyle. However, we regret that many wonderful Champagnes, which in their marketing emphasize this glamour too much, are dismissed as commercial and snobbish.

These are winemakers who were the first to improve grape quality through better vineyard work and organic cultivation. Unfortunately, winemakers do not cover the full spectrum of aromas and styles that define Champagne enjoyment.

Houses like Krug have access to about 200 top terroirs of Champagne. Over decades, they have built a reserve from more than twenty selected vintages. Through long lees aging and perfect mastery of the art of assemblage, incomparably complex cuvées are created.

As much as sustainable use of nature is close to our hearts: it is contrary to the spirit of enjoyment to celebrate an ideological opposition between winemakers and houses—as if one had to choose sides. What unites us is Champagne, which, in moderation and in the company of those close to us, can be a source of happiness.

You won’t find mass-market products pushed by paid influencers at Alfavin

However, we do not let this beautiful emotion cloud our critical view: even among the large, renowned houses, technically well-made but characterless Champagnes dominate the 50 € segment.

Nevertheless, these Champagnes receive very respectable ratings from well-known wine journalists. Who wants to become unpopular? And some wine critics even work as paid influencers for Champagne houses.

The new icons of Champagne

We have known the wines of Anselme Selosse since the 1990s when his use of oak was not yet optimized. Anselme studied viticulture in Burgundy. Today, the most sought-after Champagnes are produced as single-varietal expressions of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in oak. The results, despite the chalk of Champagne, sometimes recall a Meursault or Puligny-Montrachet with bubbles.

Anselme perfected a wonderful marriage of Burgundy and Champagne. He has shown many talented young winemakers the way to their own estates, as his apprentices later achieve prices of several hundred euros without difficulty.

Unfortunately, at least the master himself has become unaffordable for most of us.

The mainstream of grower Champagnes

Alongside many great grower Champagnes, there is a mainstream that does not really excite us. Green or fallen apples, yeast, brioche, a firm, slender mineral body, zero dosage, and fresh acidity are typical stylistic elements. Rarely do complex aromas and a silky, full body develop during aging.

Setting accents in a confusing wine world

No one can have everything today. Opinions differ on what is best. We set accents with a carefully curated selection that reflects the preferences and tastes of our customers as well as our own.

The Alfavin Champagne Collection

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Vintage Champagne – expression of a great year

Vintage Champagnes from outstanding years are the pinnacle of Champagne culture. Through long lees aging of up to 15 years and additional bottle aging in our own cellar, these wines develop exceptional depth, balance, and complexity.

At Alfavin, you will find vintages from 1979 to 2019 – including great classics like 1988, 1996, 2002, 2008, and 2012. Many of these Champagnes are now in their perfect drinking window and impressively show the potential of mature Champagne.

The great names of Champagne

Our assortment unites the most renowned Champagne houses and selected winemakers of the region. Among the great names at Alfavin are:
Dom Perignon, Krug, Taittinger, Bollinger, Pol Roger, Louis Roederer, Charles Heidsieck, Veuve Clicquot, Delamotte, Ruinart, Deutz, Gosset and Philipponnat.

However, we do not select because of these names, and many wines from these houses are excluded from our range because they do not meet our standards.

We also offer grower Champagnes from De Sousa, Diebolt-Vallois, Paul Bara, Eric Rodez, André Jacquart, and Larmandier-Bernier – characterful wines with clear terroir expression and individual style.

Thus, you can experience Champagne in all its facets – from mineral-precise Blanc de Blancs to structured, powerful Blancs de Noirs, complex cuvées, fruity rosé Champagnes, and mature, old vintages. From Grands Crus to Premier Crus to selected unknown sites. From zero dosage to extra brut to brut Champagnes.

40 years of experience – quality from family hands

Alfavin is the result of over four decades of expertise, passion, and strict quality standards.

As a family-run business with more than 40 years of experience, we personally taste and evaluate all wines. This ensures that every bottle meets our high standards of style, maturity, and authenticity.

In a confusing wine world, Alfavin provides guidance – with expert advice, honest selection, and a 5-star Trusted Shops rated service.

Our customers know: with us, they do not simply buy Champagne, but wines that evoke emotion and have been selected with experience, expertise, and passion.

Why buy Champagne from Alfavin?

• Over 40 years of experience with mature wines and Champagne

• Family-run business with personal consultation

• All wines personally tasted and evaluated

• 5★ Trusted Shops rating for service & trust

• Perfect storage in our own temperature-stable cellar

• Rare vintages from 1979 to 2019

• Selection of the best Champagne houses and winemakers