Champagne is having a quietly brilliant moment, and not the kind that ends with a cork on the ceiling and a spray of foam. The most exciting bottles on the shelf right now are the ones with a bit of history to them: mature vintages released late, grand old cuvees and formats built for a proper table. They are new to us, and yet old in soul. Here are four worth sitting down for, each with something delicious to put beside it.

New, old and rare

For years champagne was treated as a starter's pistol, a glass to get an evening going before the real wine arrived. That is changing, and gloriously so. Houses are releasing older vintages that have been resting quietly in their cellars, pouring them at the peak of maturity so you do not have to wait twenty years yourself. Large formats are back in fashion. Prestige cuvees are being taken as seriously as any grand white Burgundy. In short, champagne has grown up, and it rather wants to come to dinner.

The four bottles below tell that story rather neatly: two mature Moets with real bottle age, a pale and precise rose, and one of the most powerful prestige cuvees in the region. Different moods, one shared idea. This is champagne to linger over.

Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage Collection 1999

Start with a lesson in patience. The Grand Vintage Collection is Moët holding back bottles from a declared year, leaving them to rest on their lees far longer than the original release, then disgorging them late so they reach you at a rare stage of maturity. Think of it as the champagne equivalent of Dom Pérignon's celebrated later releases. For a sense of how selective all this is, Moët has declared fewer than eighty Grand Vintages in the entire history of the house.

The 1999 is all autumn warmth: toasted brioche, roasted hazelnut, honey and a little candied citrus, the vigour of the bubbles long since softened into something gentle and creamy. It is a champagne that has stopped shouting and started talking.

On the plate, lean into that maturity. Aged Comté or a wedge of Parmesan, a simple roast chicken, or a mushroom risotto: anything with a savoury, nutty, umami depth will meet the wine exactly where it lives.

Grand Vintage 2004, in jeroboam

Same Grand Vintage pedigree, rather more presence. A jeroboam holds three litres, the equivalent of four ordinary bottles, and there is a lovely bit of wine science behind the grandeur: the larger the bottle, the slower and more gracefully the champagne ages, because there is less air per drop of wine to hurry it along. It is why collectors prize magnums, and a jeroboam takes that logic a happy step further.

The 2004 vintage is elegant and quietly structured, and in this format it is frankly a showpiece: the bottle you carry to the table when the occasion needs no further explanation. Pour it for a feast. A whole roast bird, a side of glazed salmon, or a groaning platter of oysters all serve it beautifully. It is built for a crowd and a moment.

Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon Rosé 2012

Now for something altogether more delicate. Billecart-Salmon has been a family affair in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ since 1818, and it is famous for a house style of extraordinary finesse, built on cool, slow fermentation and a rosé so pale it practically glows. Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon is the top of the house, named for the woman whose marriage founded it, and the 2012 comes from one of the finest champagne vintages in recent memory.

It is a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir given more than nine years on its lees, and it shows: red berries and a whisper of citrus, a fine and persistent mousse, and a precision that is the hallmark of the house. Elegant is an overused word in wine. This bottle earns it.

For food, keep it refined. A little salmon or tuna tartare (yes, we know), a plate of fine charcuterie, seared duck breast, or, when summer allows, a bowl of strawberries. It flatters delicate flavours rather than flattening them.

Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2018

And to close, some proper power. La Grande Dame is Veuve Clicquot's crowning cuvée, named for Madame Clicquot herself, the widow who took over the house at twenty-seven in the early 1800s and more or less invented modern champagne along the way, riddling table and all. Her favourite grape was Pinot Noir, and this wine is her tribute: 90% Pinot Noir to just 10% Chardonnay, drawn from eight of the maison's historic grand cru vineyards and shaped by cellar master Didier Mariotti.

Madame Clicquot liked to say that her black grapes gave the finest white wines, and the 2018 makes her case beautifully: rich, structured and full of presence, with the depth to stand up to real food. This is not a shy champagne.

So give it something with substance. Lobster with butter, roast veal, a game bird, or a hunk of properly aged hard cheese. It has the backbone to keep up.

A quick word on serving

Two small kindnesses will repay you here. First, resist the fridge's coldest shelf, especially with the mature Moets: serve them a touch warmer than you think, around eight to ten degrees, and the aromas will open up rather than hide. Second, reach for a white-wine glass rather than a narrow flute. Champagne of this quality wants room to breathe and show off. Then simply sit down, pour, and let it keep you company through a meal. That, after all, is the whole point.

New, old and rare, then: bottles with a past, made to be opened rather than hoarded. Save them for the occasion that deserves one, or better still, use one to turn an ordinary evening into exactly that.