Tête de cuvée

Tête de cuvée meaning in wine

Tête de cuvée literally means “head of the cuvée” and usually refers to a producer’s top wine, prestige cuvée, or best blend. In Champagne and sparkling wine, it often names the flagship bottling made from the best lots, vineyards, or base wines. The term can also be used more technically for the finest portion of a pressing or blend, but on labels and in trade writing the safer reading is top cuvée, not simply “first pressing.”