La Fête du Champagne Returns to New York: The Dinners, Tastings and Rare Magnums Worth the Splurge

If you’ve been saving the good bottle for a special occasion, the occasion has arrived. From October 14 to 17, La Fête du Champagne returns to New York with four days of rare magnums, chef-driven dinners and intimate tastings hosted by the people who actually make the wine. It opens with twelve vintages of Pol Roger’s Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill, all poured from magnum, at Aquavit. It also brings Daniel Boulud and three-Michelin-star chef Arnaud Lallement together at DANIEL and stages Mathieu Roland-Billecart’s first-ever vertical of Clos Saint-Hilaire at Sixty Three Clinton.

The festival comes from Champagne authority Peter Liem and sommelier Daniel Johnnes, and it gives famous houses and small growers equal billing. Expect private-cellar releases, magnums with decades of history and the rare chance to taste a single vineyard across multiple vintages. Several events have already sold out, but tickets and waitlists remain for much of the program. Here’s how to spend the week.

Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill Dinner at Aquavit

Wednesday, October 14, 6:30 p.m. · 65 East 55th Street · $1,800

La Fête opens in spectacular fashion at Aquavit, chef Emma Bengtsson’s two-Michelin-star Nordic restaurant, with a dinner devoted to Pol Roger’s Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill. Sixth-generation family member Bastien Collard de Billy hosts. He’s bringing twelve vintages of the prestige cuvée, every one of them in magnum, spanning 2018 back to 1995, and Bengtsson builds a tasting menu around them.

The real treasures are four Vinothèque releases (2004, 2002, 1999 and 1998), whose original disgorgements have rested in the family’s private cellar. The 2008 and 2012 appear too, and the evening opens with Brut Réserve poured from jeroboam. Churchill, who drank Pol Roger devotedly from 1908 and even named a racehorse after it, would surely have approved.

Haute Living take: The collector’s dream opener. Twelve magnums of history, poured by the family that made them.

Chartogne-Taillet and Pierre Péters Dinner at DANIEL

Thursday, October 15, 6:30 p.m. · 60 East 65th Street · $1,995 · American Express Platinum and Centurion members only

Daniel Boulud and Arnaud Lallement cooking together would be news on any night. Pair their menu with wines chosen by Alexandre Chartogne and Rodolphe Péters, two of Champagne’s most admired growers, and you have one of the festival’s hottest reservations.

The dinner explores the decisions that make great Champagne distinctive, with flights built around chalk, closures, format and time on the lees. Chartogne-Taillet’s Cuvée Hors-Série 2019 arrives three ways: under crown cap, under cork and from magnum. Pierre Péters pours Les Chétillons 2018, Réserve Familiale 2013 and Œnothèque 2010.

Haute Living take: Two great chefs, two great growers and a masterclass hidden inside a dinner party.

Marie-Courtin and Piollot Lunch at Mitsuru

Friday, October 16, noon · 149 West 4th Street · $550 · sold out, waitlist available

Friday begins with the kind of lunch that calls for a very clear afternoon. Dominique Moreau of Marie-Courtin and Rose Piollot join visiting chef Nathan Fallowfield at Mitsuru in the West Village for a meal inspired by the hospitality he and Rose have built at the family estate in Champagne.

Fallowfield’s bespoke tasting menu accompanies Marie-Courtin Efflorescence 2019 in magnum, Présence 2016 and 2022, and Piollot Colas Robin 2010 and 2018. For grower-Champagne devotees, it’s a rare chance to taste these wines alongside the people behind them.

Haute Living take: An intimate grower lunch with the whole family at the table. Get on the waitlist.

Pierre Paillard Masterclass at Nine Orchard

Friday, October 16, 4:30–5:30 p.m. · 9 Orchard Street · $125 · sold out, waitlist available

One of the festival’s most fascinating tastings is also one of its most accessible. Brothers Antoine and Quentin Paillard join Peter Liem for a masterclass on rare releases from Bouzy, including two cuvées made exclusively for La Fête: La Goutte d’Or, a Chardonnay parcel selection, and a special bottling from the family’s historic walled vineyard. Each runs to just a few hundred bottles from a single barrel.

The lineup also features La Goutte d’Or Blanc de Blancs 2016, Bouzy Grand Cru 2008 and 2021 Blanc de Noirs from Bouzy and Verzenay. These are wines few people will ever see, let alone taste with the brothers who made them.

Haute Living take: The best value of the week, and the rarest pours per dollar. Worth chasing.

Billecart-Salmon Clos Saint-Hilaire Dinner at Sixty Three Clinton

Friday, October 16, 7 p.m. · 63 Clinton Street · $2,250 · sold out, waitlist available

The festival’s priciest dinner has a single, irresistible draw: nine vintages of Billecart-Salmon’s Clos Saint-Hilaire, presented by Mathieu Roland-Billecart in what the organizers bill as his first-ever vertical of the cuvée. Made entirely from Pinot Noir grown in one walled parcel in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Clos Saint-Hilaire is produced in runs of just 3,500 to 5,500 individually numbered bottles per vintage.

The flights span 1996 to 2009, with vintages such as 1998, 2002 and 2008 grouped to show their contrasting personalities. Le Sous Bois in magnum opens the evening, chef Sam Clonts prepares a seasonal tasting menu and ratafia from the clos provides the finale.

Haute Living take: The once-in-a-lifetime vertical of the week. If you’re only chasing one waitlist, make it this one.

Apéro au Champagne at Nine Orchard

Friday, October 16, 5:30–8 p.m. · Nine Orchard Greenhouse · $395

Friday evening moves into Nine Orchard’s glass-enclosed greenhouse for the Apéro, a walk-around party with music, small bites and an entirely large-format lineup. Sommeliers pour Krug Grande Cuvée 170ème Édition, Dom Pérignon 2013, Bollinger La Grande Année 2014 and Lanson Clos Lanson 2010, all from magnum. Growers including Bérêche & Fils, Chartogne-Taillet and Marie-Courtin round out the room.

The format lets you roam, compare and discover at your own pace, making it the festival’s most convivial event and still serious enough to keep the most dedicated enthusiast happily occupied.

Haute Living take: Krug and Dom Pérignon in magnum, in a greenhouse. Friday night, solved.

Drappier Masterclass at Pier Sixty

Saturday, October 17, 10–11 a.m. · Chelsea Piers · $125

The final day opens with Hugo Drappier and Peter Liem exploring the house’s inventive approach to oak. Coteaux Champenois Perpétuité draws on a perpetual reserve spanning twenty vintages, Trop M’en Faut ages in barrels made from local Forêt d’Orient oak, and Grande Sendrée 2015 offers another angle. Then there’s Éclose 2012, a rare release tied to Drappier’s oak-egg aging project.

Haute Living take: Proof that a centuries-old family house can still be the most experimental room in Champagne.

Champagne From Soil to Sip: Cumières at Pier Sixty

Saturday, October 17, 11 a.m.–noon · Chelsea Piers · $125 · American Express Platinum and Centurion members only

This masterclass zooms in on a single Premier Cru village in the Vallée de la Marne. Sacha Geoffroy of Champagne Geoffroy and Benjamin Fourmon of Joseph Perrier join Peter Liem to connect Cumières’ terroir to the glass, with Joseph Perrier La Côte à Bras 2016 and Les Chalmonts 2020, Geoffroy Empreinte Pinot Noir 2018 and Tiersaude Meunier 2020. Geoffroy’s still Coteaux Champenois Moulin à Vent Meunier 2022 adds a final, fascinating dimension.

Haute Living take: One village, two producers, a lot to learn. Terroir nerds, this is your hour.

The Grand Tasting at Pier Sixty

Saturday, October 17, noon–3 p.m. · Chelsea Piers · $475 · sold out, waitlist available

More than 100 Champagnes and dozens of winemakers fill Pier Sixty for three hours of tasting, with small plates from participating restaurants and purveyors. Access is the real luxury here: you can revisit a favorite, finally try a name you’ve been curious about and ask questions directly of the people who made the wine.

A little strategy goes a long way. Pick the producers you most want to meet, then leave room for discovery. The bottle you weren’t expecting may well be the one you remember.

Haute Living take: Champagne’s greatest names, all in one room. Wear comfortable shoes.

The Gala Dinner at Pier Sixty

Saturday, October 17, 6:30 p.m. · Chelsea Piers · $1,350

La Fête closes with a multicourse collaboration from Daniel Boulud, Arnaud Lallement, Fredrik Berselius and Helen Nguyen. That alone makes it a fitting finale. A reception with Domaine William Fèvre Chablis opens the night, attending producers contribute special bottles, and guests are invited to bring Champagne from their own cellars to share around the room.

That generosity is the whole point. After four days devoted to vineyards, vintages and the people behind them, the festival ends where great Champagne always should: with something wonderful being passed to the next table.

Haute Living take: Bring your best bottle. Someone at the next table is bringing theirs.

All events take place October 14–17, 2026. Prices are per person, plus tax. Availability and announced wines are subject to change; sold-out events offer waitlists through La Fête du Champagne.

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