Updated July 21
The summer sports slams and their sparkling pairings are in full service at the moment, and while we eagerly look forward to Moët & Chandon’s return to the U.S. Open Tennis Championships here in New York, all eyes—and ears—were on the popping Champagnes across the pond at Wimbledon for the past fortnight.
For those not familiar, Wimbledon spectators have long been welcome to bring bottles of Champagne to their seats during the often lengthy matches in the July sun at London’s All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club—as long as those corks aren’t popping during play. Inevitably, however, it’s not unheard of for Wimbledon chair umpires to admonish fans for loud, ill-timed expulsions.
But at this year’s men’s championship match, with Catherine, Princess of Wales watching on from the Royal Box and Jannik Sinner serving to hold onto his lead in the second set after dropping the first to Carlos Alcaraz (to whom he’d suffered an epic defeat just weeks prior at the French Open, where Moët is also the house Champagne) … a Champagne cork popped and landed just a few feet from Sinner.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please don't pop Champagne corks just as the players are about to serve," announced chair umpire Alison Hughes, to a lively mix of cheers, jeers and boos.
Sinner gamely laughed it off and picked up the cork before serving out the game, and eventually set and match to win his first Wimbledon championship and leaving him just a French Open shy of the career grand slam.
During his post-match on-court interview with TV host and former British tennis star Annabel Croft, Sinner was asked about the bubbly interruption. "Only here at Wimbledon [would that happen], but that's exactly why we love playing here," Sinner said. "It's a very expensive tournament, you know," he joked, sort of.
But Sinner got some drinks of his own in soon thereafter, and when asked a few hours later at Wimbledon's closing gala if he had had a chance to digest the experience of being a Wimbledon champion yet, he responded like a champ. "Digested? I don't know ... we were drinking quite a lot!"
Which Champagne Cork Popped on Court at Wimbledon?
The official Champagne of the Championships Wimbledon has been Champagne Lanson for more than 20 years, and the two institutions have been closely tied since the 1970s. A range of bottlings were available to spectators at this year’s tournament, starting with the Lanson Champagne Brut Le Black Création NV, priced at £96 (or just under $130). For vintage bubbles, Lanson’s Brut 2013 was priced at £125 ($165).
The Lanson Le Création Rosé Wimbledon Edition, pictured at top and also available offsite from retailers for £58 ($78), is packaged with a Wimbledon-branded neoprene jacket.
Champagne Lanson, founded in 1760, is one of Champagne's grandes marques, the oldest and most esteemed houses in Champagne.
“At Lanson, we are proud to have been 'Serving Emotion Since 1977' at Wimbledon," Lanson president François Van Aal told Wine Spectator. "This iconic collaboration reflects the values we hold dear: elegance, precision and excellence. We are always thrilled to see our Champagnes enjoyed during Wimbledon’s greatest moments, shared by tennis and Champagne lovers from around the world."
But what did Van Aal think of Lanson's unexpected appearance on the Wimbledon lawn? "[It] should be seen as a smile to the elegant habit of English tennis fans drinking Champagne Lanson. Of course, this was not intentional, and should remain an exception in order to respect the concentration of the players. We look forward to many more years of savoring Wimbledon’s finest moments—together—with the style and spirit of Lanson.”
More 2025 Wimbledon Food and Wine Controversy: Champion Iga Swiatek’s Take on Strawberries and Cream
It wasn’t just the popping corks drawing unwanted attention at this year’s Championships Wimbledon, where the quintessential gametime snack is strawberries and cream.
Former world No. 1 tennis player and now 6-time major winner Iga Swiatek revealed during a post-match interview that her favorite thing to eat during Wimbledon was pasta with strawberries and yogurt …
When you’re finished thinking about that, we’ll tell you that the spectators in attendance were audibly making the same face you just did. But Swiatek stuck by her fruit pasta despite all the online hate, and confirmed that it is in fact a delicious summertime lunch enjoyed by children in her native Poland, and that Poland has better strawberries than England.
Having now won her first Wimbledon (she wore noted Veuve Clicquot and Avaline design partner Stella McCartney to the winners' dinner), we hope that she enjoyed a very large, warm (cool?) bowl of makaron z truskawkami, and paired it with an audaciously popped bottle of Lanson Le Rosé Création.
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