What is ratafia champenois? The sweet aperitif of Champagne

Ratafia champenois is the sweet aperitif of the Champagne region: fresh grape must blended with wine alcohol before fermentation can begin. That preserves the natural sweetness of the grape. The result has 16 to 22 per cent alcohol, at least 110 grams of sugar per litre, and matures for a minimum of ten months before it may leave the cellar. Officially it is not a wine but a liqueur, with its own protected geographical indication since 2015.

Almost every Champagne grower makes it, and outside the region hardly anyone knows it. That is a shame, because it is among the most honest things Champagne produces: made from what is already there during the harvest, in a cellar where there is little else to do at that moment, originally for the family table. We have been bringing it back for years and pour it as a closing glass at nearly every tasting. Below is what it is, how it is made, where the rules come from and how best to drink it.

Last updated: 18 August 2026. The technical requirements in this article come from the official cahier des charges of the Indication Géographique Ratafia champenois, established by decree of 22 January 2015.

What exactly is ratafia champenois?

Champagne comes about because grape juice ferments: yeast consumes the sugar and turns it into alcohol. Ratafia goes in precisely the opposite direction. As soon as the must leaves the press, wine alcohol is added. That alcohol silences the yeast before it can get to work. The sugar that was in the grape therefore stays where it is, and the flavour of fresh grape is preserved instead of turning into wine.

The technique is called mutage, and the result is known in the trade as a mistelle. Ratafia champenois is therefore not a wine that has been sweetened, nor a champagne with something added to it. It is a drink in its own right, starting from the same grapes, the same parcels and the same press as the champagne from the same house, but following an entirely different path afterwards.

Under European rules it falls formally into the liqueur category. That feels counterintuitive for something that smells so much like wine, but it follows from the definition: a flavoured alcohol with a minimum sugar content. In practice it drinks like a fortified wine, somewhere near a young tawny port, but with the freshness that Champagne's northerly position lends to everything.

Where does the name ratafia come from?

There are two explanations and nobody knows for certain which is right. The better known one traces it to the Latin rata fiat, meaning "let the agreement be ratified". A glass on it once a deal was struck, and the drink that went with it took the name. That fits how it was used in Champagne: not a commercial product but something for the family table, for visitors, for the moment the harvest was safely in.

The second explanation points to the Caribbean, where tafia is a name for cane spirit. A French source from 1694 records an anecdote in which someone says "tafiat" while drinking and the Frenchman replies "ratafiat". The Trésor de la Langue Française favours that second route. Which is correct can no longer be established. What is certain is that the name is older and broader than the Champagne version of it: ratafias based on fruit, nuts and herbs exist throughout Europe, from Catalonia to Burgundy. The Champenoise variant is one of them, and since 2015 the only one that may call itself so with protected origin attached.

How is ratafia made?

It starts at the harvest, and it has to be quick. The rules require the must to be blended with the alcohol shortly after pressing, precisely to preserve the freshness of the juice. Waiting means fermentation begins, and then the opportunity has gone.

1. Harvesting in whole bunches. As for champagne, the grapes are picked with the stems intact and transported in perforated crates, so that nothing breaks or bleeds colour on the way.
2. Gentle pressing. On the same presses as the champagne, with the same restriction: a maximum of 2,666 litres of clear must per 4,000 kilos of grapes. That is a low yield, and precisely why the juice is so concentrated. A curious detail: the majority of the grapes have dark skins, yet the Champenoise pressing technique yields white must from them.
3. Mutage. The fresh must is blended with alcohol of viticultural origin, made from grapes destined for champagne. The proportion of eau-de-vie de marc, distilled from the pressed skins, is deliberately limited: it is powerful and would mask the fruity aromas.
4. Maturing. At least ten months in tank or barrel. If the maker opts for wood, a minimum of three years applies.
5. Finishing. Here almost nothing is permitted. The only allowed aid is caramel, and solely to adjust the colour. No flavourings, no added sugar, no tricks.

What makes this process so appealing is that it fits entirely within a Champagne grower's existing work. The press is running anyway, the juice is there anyway, the cellar is standing there anyway. A ratafia is in a sense the winemaker's house recipe, and you can often taste more clearly who made it than you can in the champagne from the same house. Where champagne is the result of blending, dosage and years of waiting, ratafia is far more direct: this is the grape, this is the cellar, this is the maker's choice.

The rules since 2015

Until recently ratafia was a regional custom without paperwork. That changed on 22 January 2015, when the cahier des charges of the Indication Géographique Ratafia champenois was approved. Since then it is precisely defined what may and may not go into it, and only what comes from the delimited Champagne region may call itself by that name.

Note the distinction: it is an Indication Géographique for spirit drinks, not an AOP as champagne itself has. You still occasionally see "Ratafia Champenois AOP" on labels and in online shops, and strictly speaking that is incorrect. It is an IG.

Those last two quality terms are worth remembering. If you come across a bottle with vieux or très vieux on the label, you know there are at least three and at least eight years of wood behind it respectively, in small casks. That changes the drink profoundly: from fresh and grapey to nuts, caramel and dried fig.

Ratafia de Champagne or ratafia champenois?

You will meet both names and they refer to the same thing. In the run-up to the 2015 recognition the two designations sat side by side in the documents, and in the end Ratafia champenois became the official one. "Ratafia de Champagne" remains widely used in practice, including by producers themselves, because for outsiders it is simply clearer where it comes from. Search for either and you are searching for the same drink.

What does ratafia taste like?

The official description settles on fruity aromas, minerality and a balance between sugar and acidity. That sounds sparse, but those last two words are exactly the point. Ratafia is sweet, with at least 110 grams of sugar per litre, and still it does not taste syrupy. That is down to the natural acidity of grapes grown on the most northerly vineyard soil in France. The same acids that give champagne its tension keep the sweetness in check here.

In the glass you will usually find dried fruit, apricot, orange peel and honey, sometimes with a hint of nuts. The longer the maturation, and certainly the longer in wood, the more that shifts towards caramel, walnut and raisin. A young ratafia from tank is livelier and grapier; a vieux from cask is deeper and warmer.

The grape audibly matters. A ratafia from Pinot Meunier is rounder and redder in tone, Chardonnay gives something tighter and more citrus-driven, Pinot Noir sits between the two with more body. At the houses we visit you can taste that difference side by side without any effort.

Wine, liqueur or dessert wine?

All three terms turn up, and the confusion is understandable.

• Legally it is a liqueur. That is how the European regulation has it, and that is how the cahier des charges has it.
• Technically it is a mistelle, that is, a fortified grape must. That is the trade term describing the process.
• At the table it behaves like a dessert wine. That is why many people search for it under that name, and it is not a bad way to think about it.

The key distinction from a true dessert wine: in a Sauternes or a Tokaji the sweetness comes from dried or botrytis-affected grapes whose fermentation stops of its own accord. With ratafia the fermentation never started. That is why you taste fresh grape rather than concentrated wine.

Ratafia alongside pineau, floc and macvin

Ratafia champenois does not stand alone. Several French wine regions have their own mistelle, each made with the local spirit. That is at once the biggest difference in flavour between these four: not the grape but the alcohol used to fortify them.

Pineau is the best known of the four and usually the softest as well. Floc is a shade rougher because of the armagnac. Macvin is the outright outlier, because there a marc is deliberately used rather than a wine brandy. In style ratafia sits closest to pineau, but the champagne grapes and the northern climate give it a tighter, fresher finish. Anyone who finds pineau too broad or too sweet is often better served by ratafia.

How do you serve ratafia?

Chilled, and colder than you would think. The recommended temperature is 8 to 10 °C. At room temperature the sugar comes forward and the drink loses precisely the tension that makes it interesting; well chilled the opposite happens and the fruit leaps out. Three hours in the fridge is enough, or half an hour in a bucket of water and ice.

Do not use a liqueur glass but an ordinary wine glass, and do not fill it. Four to five centilitres in a glass with room above it lets the aromas show far better. We often pour it into the same glass that held the champagne beforehand.

An ice cube is fine, certainly in summer and certainly with a young ratafia. With a vieux or très vieux it is a waste: that has the concentration you specifically do not want to dilute.

What does ratafia go with?

The classic French pairing is foie gras, and it works splendidly: the fat and the sweetness catch one another. But the range is much broader than the region itself lets on.

• As an aperitif · well chilled, with a handful of nuts or some aged cheese alongside. In Champagne this is the customary way.
• Blue cheese · roquefort or fourme d'Ambert. Salt against sweet, and that is one of the most reliable combinations there is.
• Melon with cured ham · the sweetness of the melon runs seamlessly into the glass.
• Chocolate · dark chocolate from around 70 per cent. Milk chocolate quickly becomes too sweet next to the drink.
• Dried and stewed fruit · figs, prunes, apricots, and desserts made with them.
• Confit meat · duck leg or rillettes, where the sweetness works against the fat.

Where it works less well: with raw shellfish, ceviche and anything that needs sharp acidity alongside it. There the sugar gets in the way and you are better off opening an extra brut champagne.

Ratafia in cocktails and in the kitchen

Because ratafia brings both sweetness and alcohol, in a cocktail it often replaces two ingredients at once. A simple and surprisingly good combination is ratafia with tonic and a slice of orange, in a glass with plenty of ice. It also works as a substitute for vermouth or for the sugar syrup in a spritz, with the advantage that the drink itself has something to say.

In the kitchen it is useful in a sabayon, over vanilla ice cream, or to soak dried fruit for a tart or a game dish. A splash in the pan when deglazing duck liver is not unusual in Champagne.

Keeping it: how long does a bottle last?

Unopened, ratafia is in no hurry. The alcohol content and the sugar make it naturally stable, and a bottle kept cool and dark will hold for years. A wood-aged version can develop further in bottle towards nuts and caramel.

Once opened it is considerably more patient than wine, precisely because the alcohol offers protection. Put the bottle in the fridge and keep it well sealed, and the flavour will hold for several weeks at least and usually longer. As with all fortified drinks: the emptier the bottle, the more oxygen it contains and the faster it changes. If you notice the freshness has gone, the bottle is not spoiled but it is past its peak.

Is ratafia vegan?

That depends on the producer, not on the drink itself. The rules for ratafia champenois say nothing about fining agents, and when clarifying must or wine animal-derived products are traditionally used on occasion, such as gelatine, egg white or isinglass. Many small Champagne growers now work without them, and biodynamic houses do so almost by definition, but there is no general rule you can apply to the category.

If you want to be certain, ask the house or ask us. We know our producers personally and can find out. Do not take "ratafia is vegan" for granted, and for that matter do not assume the opposite either.

The three ratafias we import

We deliberately carry three, from two houses both based in Boursault, in the Vallée de la Marne. Together they show clearly how many directions are possible within this single category.

Ratafia Champenois · La Villesenière

50% Pinot Noir · 50% Pinot Meunier · 70 cl · 18%

50 per cent Pinot Noir and 50 per cent Pinot Meunier, from the 2022 harvest, enriched with the house's own Fine Champagne. Three years in oak casks, and you can taste it: this is the classic, warm side of ratafia, with dried fruit and a note of wood.

View the bottle

Ratafia de Champagne · Aurore & Florian Laval

100% Pinot Meunier · biodynamic · 70 cl · 18%

One hundred per cent Pinot Meunier from 2023, farmed biodynamically, and one of the few ratafias with a rosé colour rather than the usual straw to amber tint. The cuvée is named "Raconte-moi une histoire", meaning: tell me a story. Soft and refined, classically accompanied by blue cheese or a dessert with chocolate.

View the bottle

Ratafia Champenois QSTQCI · Aurore & Florian Laval

100% Chardonnay · biodynamic · 70 cl · 18%

The tightest of the three: one hundred per cent Chardonnay, also biodynamic. Where the other two lean towards dried fruit, this one sits closer to citrus peel and white blossom. A rare bottle, in limited release and with its own drawn label. QSTQCI stands for "Que s'arrête le temps, que continue l'instant", meaning: let time stop and the moment go on. For a drink that halts fermentation, that is a fitting name.

View the bottle

If you want to get to know the category, I would suggest starting with the Villesenière. It is the most recognisable as "what ratafia is supposed to be", and then becomes the benchmark against which the two Lavals make their own direction heard.

Frequently asked questions

What is the alcohol content of ratafia?

Between 16 and 22 per cent, laid down in the cahier des charges. Most ratafias from Champagne sit around 18 per cent, including the three we import.

Is ratafia the same as champagne?

No. They come from the same grapes, the same parcels and the same press, but champagne is fermented and has bubbles, whereas ratafia is precisely not fermented and is still. Champagne sits around 12 per cent alcohol and is dry; ratafia sits around 18 per cent and is sweet.

How do you drink ratafia?

Well chilled at 8 to 10 °C, in an ordinary wine glass, as an aperitif or after dinner. Four to five centilitres per glass is enough.

How long does ratafia keep after opening?

Considerably longer than wine. Sealed in the fridge, an opened bottle will stay good for several weeks at least and usually longer. The emptier the bottle, the faster the flavour changes.

What is the difference between ratafia de Champagne and ratafia champenois?

None. They are two names for the same drink. Ratafia champenois is the official designation since the recognition of 2015.

Where can you buy ratafia?

It is rare in ordinary retail, because most producers make small quantities and sell almost all of it at the door. We import directly from the growers and carry three different ones, including a wood-aged version and two biodynamic ones.

Can you cellar ratafia like wine?

Unopened, a bottle will keep for years, and wood-aged versions can develop further. It is rarely necessary, though: most ratafias are ready to drink on purchase, because the maturation took place in the maker's cellar.

In closing

Ratafia is the drink that appears on every table in Champagne and is barely known outside it. It is not complicated, not expensive for what it is, and it shows you a side of the region that champagne alone will never reveal: the house recipe, made from what the harvest gave anyway, in a cellar where time does not cost much. Pour it cold, in an ordinary glass, and preferably next to a piece of blue cheese.

If you have a question about which of the three suits you, do ask. We know the makers personally and taste the bottles ourselves.

Sources

• INAO, Cahier des charges de l'indication géographique "Ratafia champenois". Source for all technical requirements: alcohol, sugar, acidity, maturation, region, pressing limit and the terms vieux and très vieux.
• Arrêté of 22 January 2015 concerning the indication géographique "Ratafia champenois", published in the Journal Officiel.
• Trésor de la Langue Française and Littré, for the two explanations of the origin of the word ratafia.
• The technical details of the three bottles discussed come from the producers themselves, La Villesenière and Aurore & Florian Laval, from the fact sheets we receive on import.

18 · no sale to anyone under 18