Rare, Champagne 2006

The 2006 vintage of Rare Champagne sits at the intersection of strong critic recognition, genuine scarcity, and attractive relative pricing against more famous prestige-cuvée peers. Liv-ex pricing data shows the 2006 as the joint-cheapest available vintage on the market alongside the 2013, despite a competitive Wine Advocate score.

At a 27 percent discount to Cristal 2006 with a closely comparable critic score, the wine offers a clear relative-value angle within the Champagne prestige category. As global awareness of Rare grows beyond its historically low public profile, pricing has scope to converge towards better-known Grandes Marques.

The wine is now approaching its optimal drinking window, with Wine Advocate guidance pointing to more than a decade of further graceful evolution. This combination of immediate drinkability, ongoing cellar potential, and constrained supply supports a long secondary-market window.

• Scarcity: Low production volumes relative to peers support secondary-market interest as the already-limited supply is consumed over time.


• Ageing potential: The Wine Advocate notes sufficient structural tension to promise more than a decade of graceful evolution, supporting a long cellar window.


• Relative value: Rare Champagne 2006 trades approximately 27 percent below Cristal 2006 despite carrying a comparable critic score (94 points versus 95 points, Wine Advocate).


• Producer pedigree: Crafted under Régis Camus, named IWC Sparkling Winemaker of the Year an unprecedented eight times, whose tenure cemented Rare as a benchmark vintage-driven Champagne.


• Critic support: A 94-point review from William Kelley at The Wine Advocate places the 2006 within the upper tier of its prestige-cuvée cohort.

Rare was previously the prestige cuvée of Piper-Heidsieck before owners EPI Group established it as a standalone label in 2018, a structural move analogous to the relationship between Dom Pérignon and Moët et Chandon. Unlike Dom Pérignon, Rare has historically been kept largely out of the public spotlight and is difficult to acquire, living up to its name with only twelve vintages released since its inception in 1976.

That scarcity, combined with critic scores often comparable to the most famous Grandes Marques, owes much to iconic chef de cave Régis Camus, named IWC Sparkling Winemaker of the Year an unprecedented eight times. Camus retired as chef de cave in March 2022, but his meticulous winemaking established Rare as a high-quality, hard-to-find Champagne known for pure expressions of individual vintages.