Published by Jeremy.
Disclaimers: This review uses WSET Diploma terminology and our own rating scale. Read more here. We use demographic data, email opt-ins, display advertising, and affiliate links to operate this site. Please review our Terms and Conditions for more information. This website is intended for those of legal drinking age in your jurisdiction.
Veuve Clicquot has a reputation of being an iconic Champagne producer. From the easily recognizable yellow label, to legions of diehard followers (and critics), their non-vintage Champagne can be found and enjoyed the world over.
While we personally enjoy the yellow label bottle ourselves, we do recognize that it does come at a fair premium for what you get- especially in the United States with import markups added.
After visiting Veuve Clicquot during our Champagne wine tour, we tried another bottle, Veuve Clicquot Extra Brut Extra Old No. 4 that became our new favorite from the producer. Why is that? Well, it is a blend of old, reserve wines only (the 4th edition had wines from 1996 to 2014 only), and, given that it is extra brut, has a fair bit less residual sugar than the standard bottle- all for not that much more in price (in the US, at least).
So if you are a critic of the yellow label for any reason (or are just a fan), be on the lookout for this one!
Veuve Extra Old Extra Brut is Quite Flavorful
Veuve Clicquot's Extra Brut Extra Old No. 4 was pale lemon in color with medium(+) aromas of pear, lemon, nectarine, cream, toast, yogurt, peach, grapefruit, almond, and brioche.
On the palate, it was dry with medium(+) acidity, flavor intensity, and finish, plus medium alcohol and body, and a creamy mousse. We had notes of lemon, pear, wet stone, saline, toast, almond, grapefruit, pineapple, brioche, and cream to name a few.
Although I'd argue that the lees characteristics were perhaps a bit more intense on the aroma over the palate, this all came together for a rather delicious wine that we enjoyed very much. The three grams per liter of residual sugar makes this one be perceived as quite dry on the palate (with the yellow label coming it at approximately nine grams per liter- detectable but still dry), and is a welcome change from the yellow label in all the best ways.
Champagne Food Pairing – Steak and Lobster with Truffle Potatoes
We went all-out with this pairing as it was Valentine's Day, and paired the Extra Brut Extra Old with a surf and turf of lobster and sous vide rib steak as well as a side of mashed potatoes with a ridiculous amount of truffle paste added in for good measure. All three dishes did wonderful things to the wine.
The lobster with butter and lemon helped highlight more of the secondary and tertiary notes, like almond, toast, cream, plus some pineapple characteristics. The steak did the opposite and highlighted a bit more of a simpler pear note. The truffle potatoes, well, now that was the wild pairing with the toast, cream, and brioche notes coming screaming back with a wild intensity here.
So if you can swing for some fancy truffled potatoes with this one (or, we have to imagine, most high quality Champagnes), do it- this one was amazing.
Score 4.5 / 5
We want several bottles of this one.
All-in-all, we get how Veuve Clicquot is somewhat of a divisive winery, if only because their bottles are often priced much higher than many, ourselves included, would like to pay. But if we are going to go for a premium bottle from here, we're going to reach for the Extra Brut, Extra Old every time because, while more expensive than the yellow label, we certainly feel like we're getting more of our money's worth all around.
Veuve Clicquot is located at 1 Rue Albert Thomas, 51100 in Reims, France. We purchased this bottle at the winery and enjoyed it in 2026.
Upgrade Your Home Wine Bar
Need to upgrade your wine bar? Grab some new wine accessories:
