Originating somewhere in Western Europe at the beginning of the 20th century, the history of mimosas is still unknown.
Some would say that they appeared in the 40s, but the old menus of the Ritz Paris suggest that they served them there as early as the 20.
It appeared in the USA somewhere around the 60s, and since then, the Mimosa cocktail has become the signature symbol of brunch, as it is light, sweet, goes excellent with brunch food, and it has a simply delightful kick.
The best thing about mimosas is that you need to have quite a few to get woozy, so it fits excellently in your brunch experience.
It is believed that the name of the Mimosa cocktail comes from the mimosa flower, which has the same color as the cocktail. Before it was named “Mimosa,” this cocktail was simply called orange champagne.
Made with champagne, citrus juice, and the mandatory orange juice, the Mimosa cocktail is an experience in itself. It is a very sweet and gentle drink, slightly bubbly from the champagne and slightly sour from the citrus juice.
Served in an elegant champagne glass with a bright orange color, the Mimosa cocktail allures the eye before it charms the palate. It is most certainly one of the most refined cocktails.
More: 15 Cheap Champagne For Mimosas
However, the Mimosa cocktail could unpleasantly surprise you, depending on the champagne you use. Even though it is supposed to taste sweet, it can sometimes taste bitter or bitter-sweet but is badly balanced.
The bitter-sweet combination can be what you want, but it needs to be the golden medium between these two opposing flavors. However, if the champagne is of low quality, that bitter-sweet flavor won’t work out in your favor.
Also check: How Many Mimosas To Get Drunk?
It is a common notion that cocktails tolerate alcohol of lower quality, as the rest of the cocktail ingredients can cover up for what the alcohol lacks. That, however, is not the case with the Mimosa cocktail.
The flavor of the Mimosa cocktail highly depends on the quality of the champagne used to make it.
Top 20 Best Champagnes for Mimosas
Actually, the best champagne for mimosas doesn’t even have to be champagne. You can make delicious mimosas with various different sparkling wines too.
However, if champagne is the drink you want to have for mimosas, there is a pretty wide palette you can choose from.
To know which champagne is best for mimosas, you need to know what a good champagne is. A good champagne is aromatic, but not overwhelmingly, somewhere between noticeable and understated.
It is sparkly, but not too much, tickly at most. Its texture should be velvety and smooth overall. Needless to say, good champagne is easy to drink, and it is fruity and somewhat sweet. If the champagne is overly sparkly or intensely sweet, it doesn’t work for mimosas.
You will need to use a very intense-tasting orange juice to cover up for the champagne, resulting in a very expressively orange-flavored mimosa which isn’t what it is supposed to be.
To help you make the best mimosas and have a great time drinking them, in this article, I will list some of the best champagne types for mimosas.
1. Champagne Taittinger Nocturne
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Described in one word, this champagne is soft. It is elegance in a glass, so to speak. Its light yellow color makes it almost translucent, giving you a nice view of the bubbles. It is expressively fruity, tasting noticeably like peaches and apricots.
Moreover, the apricot and peach flavors are so clean you can even feel them separately. What makes this champagne so unique is the fact that you can discover its flavors without being told what to look for.
Mixed with orange juice, it also develops another fragrance, white blossom, making it even more delicious. This is a champagne you drink with your mouth and your nose. The Mimosa cocktail made with this champagne is velvety, refreshing, and unimaginably flavorful.
2. Dom Pérignon
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Expressively fruity where the flavors are dominated by grapes, this is a classic and world-renowned champagne and probably the most famous one on this list. It is expressively sparkly but not overwhelmingly bubbly.
While champagne, in general, is characteristic of the floral notes greeting the notes, this one has grapes all over it. From the nose to the palate to the throat, the entire sip consists of exquisite grapy flavors.
However, what makes this champagne interesting is the fact that the grapes create a very particular flavor, which is unique in itself. Combined with orange juice in a Mimosa cocktail, this champagne makes the floor for a grape and orange dance, intertwined with velvety softness and playful bubbles.
3. G.H. Mumm Cordon Rouge
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Made with tropical fruits, this champagne is summer in a bottle. Combining soft pineapple flavor and lychee, it is expressively sweet and very smooth, almost creamy. It has the typical champagne bubbles, of course, but they are a cotton-like gentle.
On the nose, it exhibits white flower aromas, creating an overall soft and summer vibe. A Mimosa with this champagne feels creamy on the palate, playful on the taste buds, and absolutely amazing on the throat. However, due to the tropical fruit flavor, it may be a bit restrictive on the food, so choose carefully what kind of meal you combine it with.
4. Krug Grande Cuvée
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It is simply impossible to describe all tastes involved in a single bottle of this champagne. This is a mix of many wines from different bottles and different years. Each of these wines has distinctive features and characteristics, injecting the final champagne flavor with their essence.
This champagne is an entire orchestra of different instruments playing in perfect harmony. A Mimosa with champagne would be simply heavenly, as it tastes like a 100 drinks all at once. It is overwhelmingly flavorful, not only on the palate but afterward, too.
5. Champagne Perrier Jouët
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This champagne is slightly more complex than most mentioned here. Its flavors and aromas don’t include only floral and fruity dimensions but also brioche sweetness and buttery creaminess.
It is a genuinely unique and mysterious-flavored. It is highly exploratory, and you need to really know your champagne to be able to fully discover what this one hides. It has a wide variety of flavors contained in a single bottle.
A Mimosa made with this champagne tastes absolutely heavenly and is smooth beyond words. It tastes like a combination of fresh fruits, vanilla, and, as I already mentioned, brioche. Its gold-to-silver shades complement its buttery, almost creamy consistency.
6. Charles Heidsieck Rosé Reserve
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This is a very elegant drink, with velvety smoothness and a very understated sparkly side. It has a fruity flavor and floral aroma. Aged for 48 months, it has very specific and recognizable strawberry jam and peach-tasting notes.
It is one of the best champagnes for mimosas, as the strawberry-peach flavors pair excellently with the intense orange notes specific to the Mimosa cocktail.
7. Champagne Pol Roger Réserve
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This champagne does things in reverse, and it works great. Instead of greeting the nose with floral notes and enticing the palate with fruity flavors, it does just the opposite. It seduces the nose with mango and pear notes while it caresses the palate with soft jasmine and honey flavors.
It is extremely soft all over, with fine and cloud-light bubbles that are only there to tickle your tongue, making it even more sensitive to the flavors involved. In a Mimosa cocktail, it blooms further with an even more intense jasmine note, recreating this cocktail in a whole new light.
8. Champagne Pommery Pop
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This is a very aromatic and a very fruity champagne that is genuinely unique, and it really stands out from the rest in its category. It combines apple, orange, and lemon flavors, creating a clean final taste, equally exhibiting the included tastes.
None of the flavors is predominant, but all of them have their spotlight in different stages of the sip. Combined with orange juice in the Mimosa cocktail, this champagne creates a flavor explosion, giving the cocktail an entirely different dimension.
Its overall smoothness and tickly bubbles create a noticeable refreshing note in the Mimosa. Moreover, this new dimension makes the cocktail even more suitable to combine with food.
9. Prosecco
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Prosecco is a very playful, vibrant, temperamental, and flavourful sparkly wine. Although it doesn’t come from the Champagne region, it is still worth mentioning as one of the best Mimosa cocktail bases.
It has frothy bubbles, rubbing off of the Mimosa, creating a feeling that you are having a freshly squeezed orange juice with pulp and a great kick.
10. Champagne Canard Duchêne Authentic Green
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Tasting like fermented fruit, this champagne is definitely not for everyone. It isn’t that it is of bad quality or that it tastes poor, but fermented fruit flavor is a very specific flavor and not everyone’s favorite.
Because of its flavor, it also gives out an impression that it’s bubblier and coarser in terms of texture, but that is just a result of the taste. In reality, it is very smooth and soft.
11. Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte Brut
Complex-flavored, full-bodied, and extremely versatile, this champagne probably takes the cake as the one including the most flavor notes on this list.
It combines dried fruit, spices, vanilla, nut, fruitcake, lemon meringue, and honey notes, perfectly balanced and honored, mixed in a rich and creamy consistency. This champagne is a cocktail in itself, and each flavor note rises to the top when its time comes.
Making a Mimosa with this champagne is creating an unforgettable and unique experience you simply cannot get with another type of champagne. Your Mimosa will be so rich and creamy that you will wonder whether to drink or eat it.
12. Bollinger James Bond 007 Champagne
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There is a little bit more to this champagne compared to most on this list. It combines fresh citrus fruits, toast, and brioche, making it complex and exploratory. It is, nevertheless, soft and gentle, though flavor-wise, much more expressive due to the zesty citrus notes.
A Mimosa cocktail made with this champagne is even more citrus-flavored, with a slightly sour note, making it even better suited to combine with food.
13. Laurent-Perrier Alexandra Rosé
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If you can get ahold of this champagne, don’t hesitate to buy it. It is a rare drink, but worth the search. Tasting like red raspberries with fresh floral notes, it is one of the most refreshing and playful champagnes.
It is smooth and soft overall, with little more intense bubbles that do a bit more than just tickle the tongue. Since it is hard to find, I don’t recommend you mix it in a Mimosa, as it would be a shame not to experience it in its full glory. Nevertheless, a Mimosa made with this champagne tastes fantastic.
14. Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label
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This champagne is a result of imagination and creativity, boldness and experimentation. While champagne is known as a soft and gentle drink, this one is both strong and soft. It is intense-flavored with fruity solid notes balancing each other out, creating a fascinating final result.
It is known as one of the best champagnes to combine with food, making it the perfect base for a Mimosa. Gentle yet robust, it accentuates the flavors involved in the cocktail while, at the same time, it tones down the citrus bite.
15. Moët & Chandon Réserve Impérial
This champagne is best described as “just enough,” meaning there is nothing in it that springs out, but it sets the tone and sticks to it. Perfectly balanced overall, with equal parts fruity and floral notes, this champagne is a lesson for balance.
Popular with equally refined meals, you need to deserve it as a reward, as it doesn’t work with just anything. A Mimosa with this champagne becomes a silk scarf in a glass, as that’s how elegant it makes it.
16. Santa Margherita Brut Rosé
Another playful companion for your Mimosa cocktail. Tasting like red berries and smelling like forest flowers, this sparkly wine will definitely entice you with its gentility and refinement.
Starting from its color, to texture, and consistency everything about this drink is delicate and high-class. A Mimosa made with this sparkly wine as base tastes like a fairyland, covered in mystical flavor sensations. The final flavor, as particular as it is, is very open to meal combinations, so with this pair, the world really is your oyster.
17. Ruinart Blanc de Blancs
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Carefully and patiently prepared, this champagne is a vintage drink made as a reward for a job well done. It is expressively grape-flavored, but it also includes floral notes, especially on the nose, combined with vanilla.
There is a lot that this champagne brings to the table when it comes to mimosas. Namely, the floral aroma of the champagne tones down the citrus notes of the Mimosa, making it better balanced. On the palate, it creates a genuine flavor combination, mixing grapes and orange notes, sweetening up the cocktail but also injecting a sour slide note.
18. Louis Roederer Champagne
This champagne combines strawberry and nectarine taste notes mixed with marzipan and ginger. It is the sheer image of experimentation and a living proof that you can match the unmatchable if you are persistent enough.
Covered in seemingly contrasting notes, traditionally viewed as not combinable, this champagne raises the limit of the possible and breaks the shackles of the conventional. Retaining the dignified elegance of its category, it is definitely the Coco Chanel of the champagne world.
A Mimosa cocktail made with this champagne is refined, edgy, full of character, bold, and absolutely delicious.
19. Champagne Billecart Salmon Rosé
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Combining red berries and citrus fruits, this champagne is a little more expressive than what is usual for the champagne department. However, it is still elegant, smooth, and gentle, thereby retaining the typical champagne traits.
It is citrusy on the nose continuing with that tone, adding some red berry whiffs mid-palate. It goes best with fish and sushi, so you might want to consider than when planning your brunch. However, due to the expressive citrus dimension, it is somewhat restrictive in meal-pairing.
Your Billecart Salmon Rose Mimosa will taste like sweet and sour oranges, delightfully bubbly and exquisitely cheerful.
20. Cava
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Slightly acidic and bubbly, some would say that Cava is a little too much for Mimosa. However, it has found a place on this list as it is an excellent Mimosa base. It has an expressive citrus flavor mixed with a bit of floral aroma and baked apple notes. Your Cava Mimosa will amaze you with how colorful it is and how different it tastes with each new sip.
This Mimosa is welcoming to many different types of food, so combining it won’t be an issue at all, which makes this sparkling wine a worthy competitor to the other ones listed here.
Best Champagne for Mimosas Brut or Extra Dry?
Brut is French for dry. So a brut champagne is a dry champagne. It is characterized by its higher acidity and slight sweetness. Still delicious, nonetheless.
The extra dry champagne is even drier than the brute, but it is noticeably sweeter. While brut champagne is less restrictive because it is more acidic than sweet, the extra dry champagne is sweeter and, therefore, more restrictive in terms of combining.
It goes best with fish and seafood in general.
In summation, both brut and extra dry champagne types are great for mimosas, and which one you choose depends only on what you plan to combine with your Mimosa. If you plan on having seafood, you should go with the extra dry, while for other meals, you can go with the brut.
If you plan on serving mimosas with a dessert, I would recommend you going with the brut champagne, as the extra dry is sweeter. Combined with orange juice on top of cakes and sweets, it might not be the best idea to go with the sweeter champagne.
What Type of Champagne Is Best for Mimosas?
According to sweetness and acidity, champagne is divided into two categories- brut and extra dry. The brut champagne is more acidic and less sweet, and the extra dry is sweeter than the brute.
Since the orange juice in the Mimosa cocktail sweetens things up, it will make the brut kind noticeably sweet and the extra dry even sweeter than it already is.
Therefore use brut champagne for mimosas if you plan on having savory foods and desserts, and reserve the extra dry champagne mimosas for seafood.
They both work well for mimosas, so you should base your decision on the food you plan on having.
What’s a Good Cheap Champagne for Mimosas?
Just hearing the phrase “cheap champagne” gives cheap champagne an undeserving bad name. Expensive champagne is, of course, better than cheap, but there are types and brands of cheap champagne that hold up pretty well, not only in mimosas but alone too.
So before jumping to conclusions, keep an open mind, and remember that a significant portion of the price goes for the brand and not the product, so a cheap champagne doesn’t always mean bad champagne.
Good examples of cheap champagnes good for mimosas are Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label Champagne, Champagne Pommery Brut Royal NV, Faire La Fête Brut, Korbel Brut California Champagne, Chandon Rosé Sparkling, Perrier Jouet Grand Brut, Fre Sparkling Brut, Feuillatte Brut Blue Label, etc.
What Champagne Is Best for Mimosas, Dry or Brut?
Brut and dry champagne is actually the same thing, as “brut” is French for “dry.” Dry champagne is good for mimosas, as it is less sweet and, therefore, non-restrictive in its use.
You can combine it with various savories and desserts, as well as dry snacks, such as pretzels, or have your Mimosa cocktail with nothing on the side.
Is Prosecco or Brut Better for Mimosas?
Prosecco is a type of sparkling wine made in the Veneto region of Italy. It is a dry sparkly wine, which is the same as brut, as brut is French for dry. It is flavorful but noticeably acidic too.
Prosecco isn’t champagne because it comes from Italy, and a champagne must come from the Champagne region in France, much like the case with the Cognac brandy.
In terms of whether Prosecco is better than champagne for mimosas, the answer is very simple- it depends on what you like.
Prosecco is a dry or brut sparkly wine which is great for mimosas. On the other hand, champagne also works excellent for mimosas, so it all boils down to what you like and your personal preferences.
