champagne recommendations....

Champagne612



Jedi

 

The best "common" non-high end (under $50.00 per bottle) Champagne in my opinion: Moet & Chandon Nectar Imperial or Rose Imperial.

 

Try a variety, there are some nice independents out there.

 

Like a lot of topics we discuss on FChat, the answers are very personal.....but here are our favorites at different price points. All are readily available nationwide and each producer has a line of sparklers of varying dryness.

Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut - Under $10
Gloria Ferrer Brut - $14-18
Veuve Clicquot Champagne Brut (aka Yellow Label) - $30-40
Bollinger La Grande Année - $100
Salon Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs - $200-350 depending upon vintage

The good news for wine drinkers is that there is a LOT of nice wines at every price point...even around $10.

 

Pick up a bottle of Clicquot at Costco. Its good juice..not too cheap, not too expensive.

 

The Veuve Clicquot Champagne Brut is a great choice.

My favorite Champagne is Krug Grande Cuvee Brut. I prefer it to Dom Perignon or Cristal.

What do I know? I drink Bourbon.

 

starts out sweet, but has a bitter finish

 

I am a big fan of Mumm (California). They have lots of character and very reasonably priced.

 

My favourite!

Unfortunately it's about £30-£40 ($45-$55) here in the UK.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

I have both but I did not open them yet.

How would you describe/compare them?


Thanks.

 

Do the Pepsi challenge yourself. LOL

Both are superb Champagnes.

I found the Krug has more complexity to the nose, and palette, and a better finish than the Dom.

I'd prefer a good Bourbon neat with a cigar, to any Champagne.

 

Is Schramsberg (Napa Valley) still considered to be the best of the U.S. brands?

 

And they taste the same after 3 glasses...

 

After thee glasses of either, I'd have a headache.

I prefer grain to grapes.

 

I prefer Krug as well. I like clos de Mensil as the best... vintage 1990 is great as well. far better than Dom Perignon. I also like Pol Roger winston Churchill as well. Deutz is great for a cheaper alternative... but you can also buy expensive Deutz as well.

Bollinger is good for about $50 or so.

 

Gruet. Blanc de noirs.

$17 a bottle. Not sweet, very clean and didn't give me acid reflux I've been experiencing with others and my old standby, lately.

Apparently a French guy, opened a winery in New Mexico and is turning out some pretty good French champagne, albeit in Albuquerque .

Nice stuff.
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For California: Roederer Estate, Mumm DVX, and Scharfenberger
For the real stuff: Taittinger, Roederer, Chas. Heidsieck are very good values. The Bolly is always wonderful. Veuve Clicquot has gone down hill tremendously in the past 5 years...as has a former good QRP Nicolas Feullatte.
Costco prices are hard to beat. Many people like the big Total Wine Chain but the champagne they promote they have a hand in importing/distributing, so they are not unbiased.
The unsaid but critical thing in buying Champagne is this: get it as fresh as you can. Try to find a place that turns its inventory over, and gets frequent shipments. If you live in a control State (like PA) or buy from big chains, be aware that your champagne may have been sitting in warehouses and distributors hot buildings...maybe for a year or two. I may pay a couple of bucks more, but I buy from two local guys, small businesses, they own their own shops and know their supply channels.

 

Can you elaborate on the decline of Veuve and Nicolas F.? Those were two of my favorites, but I have not been buying much of them for the past 4 years, or as I like to refer to it as "since the world came to an end".
I have just had some very nice Laetitia from New Mexico, I think. I actually thought it was better than most of the Calif. sparkling wine I've had. And it was something like $12.

George

 

Also try some Italian Proseco.

This is Ferrari Chat, after all.

 

Will strongly second this & suggest Mumm's Blanc de Noirs - my "go to" bottle of inexpensive bubbly.

 

I recently celebrated with a bottle of Moet & Chandon Imperial. Really good, crisp, dry, subtle fruit flavor. I used to drink a lot of Moet White star, but I believe they don't make it any more.

http://us.moet.com/Our-Champagnes/Moet-Imperial

I have visitied the Moet cellars in France a couple of times, well worth doing.

Among the wines served at my wedding were a sparking white by Charles de Fere which is an excellent value

http://www.boissetfamilyestates.com/products/ProductDetails.aspx?PrdId=66

Do youself a favor and serve any leftover bubbly with fresh squeezed orange juice for breakfast.

 

I am surprised Schramsberg has not been mentioned yet. I don't know if it is true but I was told this is what the president uses to toast foriegn dignitaries. I like it. About $45.

My all time favorite was Mumms extra dry but no longer available, so I drink the Mumm's California.

Don't laugh but one of my favorites is Cooks extra dry. I think it tastes wonderful and at $6.00, I can really like it.

 

we just had a party and served Gruet and it was great. everyone loved it, and its a pretty cheap champagne.

 

George. This is all a matter of personal taste. IIRC, VC shifted their champagne blend about 5 years ago. The big champagne houses try tor replicate, as much as possible year over year, a "house style/taste" of champagne for their NV (not their tete du cuvee wines). This is done by blending vintages of many years, the dosage, time on lees, etc. I think VC went to a method that lowered their inventory costs ( a big deal in the wine biz) and started moving more wine faster. I think they also adopted a sweeter taste to their wines. They certainly started to taste more commercial. NF, whcih was a very good QPR in the 90's and from 2000-2005 or so, changed and broadened their suppliers and just my personal opinion went to a big volume producer and style approach to their wines. Als many of the small, very quality conscious growers in Champagne started their own little empires, with growing, harvesting, producing, and bottling thier own wines on the premises...taking some high quality juice away from the big houses and their NV products. Again, just my opinion.