As we approach the celebratory end of the year, that sound you can hear in the background is Champagne metaphorically putting on its best dress and checking itself in the mirror – no wine parties like Champagne.

The holidays will come as a blessing again this year, after another grim 12 months dominated by the virus that just won't quit. For Americans, it starts with Thanksgiving, that kindly, reflective festival that has somehow morphed into a rabid orgy of post-Thanksgiving commercialism via Black Friday. Then, there is the great toy that is Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Saturnalia (delete as applicable).

That's another great spasm of conspicuous consumption and overindulgence and it is followed by the much less religious, but infinitely more celebratory occasion of New Year, when the sounds of corks popping will doubtless be heard from space (passing aliens must have a very odd opinion of us, if they pass by during the last six weeks of the year).

A staggering amount of those corks will be emerging from bottles bearing the legend "Champagne". No other wine region or style is as synonymous with celebration, congratulation and triumph as the descendants of Dom Pérignon. And after the year just gone, we all deserve a little loosening of the inhibitions.

So does Champagne, in truth. It's been a weird year: a smaller 2021 harvest, global distribution disruption and the Covid-related economic hit have all combined to be a little bit sobering for the indefatigable Champenois. Internal strife over yield levels, stumbling gestures towards "sustainability" and a growing imbalance between the people who grow the grapes and those who sell the wine have also made this year tougher than usual in Champagne.

Typically, it is the big names, the great houses of Champagne who are doing better in these cold economic winds than their smaller, less-famous compatriots. A look at the list of the world's best Champagnes below demonstrates that clearly; as a wise man once said: "God loves the poor laborer – that must be why he made so many of them."

Even among the big names, however, there is a very definite trend, that will be of concern to wine lovers generally, and not just the Champagne producers being left behind.

As usual, let's get the criteria out of the way first. You'll notice on the list below that the wines do not appear to be ranked in numerical order, according to scores, but trust us, they are. The apparent anomalies occur because we weight the aggregated critic score according to how many scores each wine has received. So, a wine with an aggregated score of 93 points across 100 reviews will be rated higher than one with a score of 93 across 50 reviews. Similarly, wines with an ostensibly higher score across a lower number of reviews will not be ranked as high.

And finally, we have added more critics in the last 12 months, so this year's "best of" series will be more comprehensive than ever.

The World's Best Champagnes on Wine-Searcher:

Krug Clos du Mesnil Blanc de Blancs Brut 96 $1472

Krug Vintage Brut 96 $410

Krug Clos d'Ambonnay Blanc de Noirs Brut 96 $3053

Jacques Selosse Millésime 95 $1531

Dom Pérignon P2 Plénitude Brut 95 $440

Dom Pérignon P3 Plénitude Brut 96 $5048

Salon Cuvée S Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs Brut 95 $1137

Krug Collection Brut 95 $1375

Louis Roederer Cristal Vinothéque Edition Brut Millésime 96 $1163

Dom Pérignon Oenothéque Brut Millésime 95 $1240

The elephant in the room can be addressed in as little as four letters: LVMH.

The luxury goods giant tends to dominate wherever it operates, and Champagne is no exception – especially at the top end. Again this year, seven of the wines are from the two key LVMH Champagne houses, Krug and Dom Pérignon. You could make the argument that having such huge resources behind it makes it easier to achieve higher scores – after all, it can afford to send tasting samples of its best cuvées to more critics.

But that would be both churlish and it would miss the point – however critics get hold of the wines (and one thing we can be very sure of is that it does not usually involve an expenditure on behalf of a huge majority of critics), the scores speak for themselves. Champagne's upper echelon is in very fine form indeed, and is actually improving – last year there were three 96-point aggregate scores on the corresponding list, this year there are five; in 2019 there were none.

Regardless of Champagne's myriad problems, one thing is for sure: the winemaking at least is getting better and better. And whatever celebrations happen at the end of this year, its wines will be front and center among the festivities.

To view on Wine-Searcher, please click here.