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Champagne label codes: what NM, RM, CM and the other initials mean

Every bottle of Champagne carries two small letters that tell you who made it. Here are all seven codes, where to find them, and what they do and don't tell you about the wine.

Updated October 2026

Rewritten by Alper Billik, Advanced Sommelier

4 min read

The short answer: the two letters in the small print of a Champagne label tell you who made the wine. NM is a house that buys grapes, RM is a grower who makes Champagne only from their own vines, and CM is a cooperative. There are seven codes in all, and every bottle must carry one.

Where to find the code

Look at the bottom of the front label or on the back label, in the smallest print on the bottle. You will see two letters followed by a registration number, for example “NM-123-456”. The Comité Champagne lists this code among the details every Champagne label must show, with the word Champagne, the sweetness (Brut, Demi-Sec), the alcohol and the allergens.

The seven codes

NM
Stands forNégociant-Manipulant
Who made itA house that buys grapes, juice or wine, often as well as using its own vines, and makes and sells Champagne under its own name
RM
Stands forRécoltant-Manipulant
Who made itA grower who makes and sells Champagne only from their own vineyards, on their own premises
CM
Stands forCoopérative de Manipulation
Who made itA cooperative that makes Champagne from its members' grapes and sells it under its own brand
RC
Stands forRécoltant-Coopérateur
Who made itA grower who belongs to a cooperative and sells, under their own label, Champagne the cooperative made
SR
Stands forSociété de Récoltants
Who made itA company set up by growers, often from one family, who pool their grapes to make and sell Champagne
ND
Stands forNégociant-Distributeur
Who made itA merchant who buys finished bottles and puts their own label on them
MA
Stands forMarque d'Acheteur
Who made itA buyer's own brand, such as a shop's or a restaurant's own-label Champagne

How to remember them: the first letter says who you are dealing with (Négociant, Récoltant, Coopérative, Société, Marque), the second says what they do. Manipulant means they made the wine themselves.

What the code tells you

  • RM is “grower Champagne”. One family, its own vines, often in one or a few villages. These wines tend to show a place more than a house style.
  • NM is the world of the houses. All the famous names, from Krug to Moët & Chandon, are NM. Buying grapes from many villages lets them blend the same style every year.
  • CM, RC and SR are all about growers working together. A cooperative presses, makes and ages the wine; a grower may then sell it as their own (RC).
  • ND and MA tell you the name on the label is not the maker. The real producer is somewhere behind it.

What the code does not tell you

  • Quality. There are great and ordinary wines under every code. RM is not automatically better than NM, or the other way round.
  • Style. The code says nothing about sweetness, grapes or age. Read Brut or Extra Brut, Blanc de Blancs or Blanc de Noirs, and the vintage for that.
  • How many vines a house owns. Some NM houses own large vineyards too; they are NM because they may also buy.

The Comité Champagne counts some 16,200 growers, 130 cooperatives and 370 houses. The code on the label tells you which of them made your bottle.

Using it with a guest

When a guest asks for “something different from the big names”, the code is your quickest tool: point to an RM bottle and tell them who made it and where the vines are. When a guest wants the taste they already love, an NM house delivers the same style every time. Either way, you are selling a story they can feel, not just a label.

Quick quiz

Question 1

What does RM on a Champagne label mean?

  1. a)Réserve Millésime
  2. b)Récoltant-Manipulant: a grower making Champagne from their own vines
  3. c)Rosé Méthode
  4. d)Régional Manipulant
Show answer

b) Récoltant-Manipulant: a grower making Champagne from their own vines. RM is a grower who makes and sells Champagne only from their own vineyards.

Question 2

Which code would a famous Champagne house usually carry?

  1. a)RM
  2. b)RC
  3. c)NM
  4. d)MA
Show answer

c) NM. Houses are Négociants-Manipulants: they may buy grapes and make the wine themselves.

Question 3

A supermarket sells Champagne under its own brand name. Which code fits?

  1. a)MA
  2. b)SR
  3. c)CM
  4. d)RM
Show answer

a) MA. MA, Marque d'Acheteur: a buyer's own brand made by someone else.

Question 4

A grower sells, under their own label, Champagne that their cooperative made. Which code?

  1. a)RM
  2. b)RC
  3. c)ND
  4. d)NM
Show answer

b) RC. RC, Récoltant-Coopérateur: the grower's label, the cooperative's winemaking.

Read the rest of the label with my guides to Champagne Grand Cru and vintage Champagne, or the wider French wine terms glossary.

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Questions people ask

What does NM mean on a Champagne label?

Négociant-Manipulant: a Champagne house that may buy grapes, juice or wine and makes the Champagne itself, under its own name.

Is RM Champagne better than NM?

Not by rule. RM tells you the wine is from one grower's own vines. Both codes include outstanding and ordinary wines.

Where is the code on a Champagne bottle?

In the small print on the front or back label, followed by a registration number.

What is grower Champagne?

Champagne made by the people who grow the grapes, from their own vineyards. On the label it carries the code RM.

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