Champagne Anyone?

Cafe Society
1

I think my champagne phase started around midjune last year with my first bottle of veuve. Since then I’ve slowly but surely been developing a fondness for the stuff, a true appreciation for a consistently satisfying beverage. I’ve tried a number of inexpensive champagnes & sparkling wines (most of which were rubish) as well as a few young vintages and a relitively inexpensive (late 90s no more than $300) cristal rose & laurent perrier rose (pardon the missing accent ague[sp?]).

I prefer the veuve to everything else I’ve tried but I’d like to expand my palette into more exotic territory without any more disapointments like the cristal.

I’m thinking of trying a bottle (not sure which one, anyone care to recomend a year?) of Salon. I’m also open to other avenues.

So can anyone recomend a bottle of good champagne under $500?

2

Rule #1 – avoid anything that says “Charmat bulk process” on the label. Stick with “methode champagnois” or “naturally fermented in this bottle”

There are several good and reasonably priced sparkling wines made by French companies that have set up shop in California – Chandon is a favorite of mine; Piper Sonoma is good, and I believe theres some California version of Moet as well. None should cost you more than $15-$20.

In the $25-$50 range, my all-time favorite is Schramsberg.

I can’t think of a reason to pay more than that; Dom Perignon is very nice stuff, but not enough to be worth the exorbitant cost.

3

With such a high limit, I wonder what your minimum cost is.

I once wanted to try some “good” champagne and went to a wine store. The guy gave me some info, but not really helpful info. I ended up buying a bottle of Roederer that was too dry and a bit acidic.

I’ve long known that more expensive does not always mean better. Based on my experience, the same is true of champagnes.

Are you mainly looking for good taste, or something expensive to brag about?

4

Do you have a style preference?

I think many people prefer Brut, and it seems to be what many Champagne houses produce the most of.

There are too many good Champagnes and sparkling wines under $500 for me to list. (And while I have many favorite wines, I declare Champagne my all-time favorite. Someone recently asked me if I could only drink one wine for the rest of my life, what would it be, and my answer was pretty quickly Champagne. I just can’t get enough of it.)

I’m not experienced enough to suggest a vintage for any, but most Champagnes are non-vintage anyway (with typically only the truly exceptional harvests declaring vintage, such as Salon.) I can at least give you some of the bigger Champagne house names and you can check them out depending on what style you prefer. Alas, I’m also not in a position to afford any of the truly great Champagnes for anything other than very special occasions, so my experience is limited with them as well.

Some of the better ones I know of are Krug, Gosset, Bollinger, and Laurent-Perrier, which you already know. (Personally, I say go for the Salon and report back immediately.) :wink:

For Ca. Sparklers I love Iron Horse Vineyards (Wedding Cuvee), Roederer Estates (Brut Rose), and J Vineyards (Brut.)

You might want to try the sparklers of other countries as well, like Sekt (Germany), Cava (Spain), or Prosecco (Italy - which is made using the charmat method Twoflower warned you about), or stay in France but look outside of Champagne (look for Cremants, like Cremant d’Alsace, Alsace is another French region known for producing good sparkling wines.)

If you’re near SF or NYC, I’d suggest a stop in The Bubble Lounge, where you can taste many different wines before deciding what to buy.

5

I feel your insinuations are baseless but your point is still valid. I know there are lots of tasty inexpensive bottles out there, in fact if you read my post, I clearly stated that I prefer the cheap veuve cliquot over the exponentially more expensive cristal.

Btw, have you come across a lot of unreliable rolls royce phantoms lately? How about poorly stitched Brioni suits? I’m sure if you try hard enough you might find the odd ugly armni piece or faulty benz out there but I think you’re kidding yourself if you’re really convinced that money and quality have no correlation (we accept that its not always direct…), partiuclarly with relevance to the subject at hand.

We’re not talking about socks or software, we’re talking champagne, and last time I checked, exotic interesting champagne just happens to cost quite a bit of cash.

so back to the OP, anyone tried Salon?

6

psycat90: Helpful info, cheers. I don’t think I’m ready to comit to styles or preferences. I think the kid in me prefers semi-sec but I’d like to think a good wine can come in any flavor. Again Rosés are fun but if someones had any good bottle lately I’d love to hear about regardless.

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Thanks for the free advertising :smiley:

VCNJ~

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I get no kick from champagne,
Mere alcohol doesn’t thrill me at all,
So tell me why should it be true,
That it’s off to CS with you?

9

I have always liked Veuve-Clicquot

And it’s not too expensive.

10

My personal favorites among French champagnes are the Taittinger Brut Reserve (they also make a demi-sec and a coupla roses) and the Bollinger Special Cuvee. There’s also a light, cheapo French brut rose I like called Charles de Fere Brut Rose. It’s nothing special, just fun to have as a more everyday type of thing.

The Australians also make some kick-ass sparkling wines. Try a Rosemount Sparkling Chardonnay, or if you can find it, a Brut from the early '90s (91 and 93 were excellent vintage years but I don’t know if you could find any now). For something completely different, see if you can get your hands on a sparkling shiraz - it’s completely unlike any other sparkling wine out there.

Domestic varieties I’ve liked a lot are from Gloria Ferrer (blanc de blanc and blanc de noir), Scharffenberger, Domaine Ste. Michelle (again, brut and blanc de noir), Piper Sonoma (brut and blanc de noir), and Chandon. I think there are a lot of good domestic sparkling wines, but none that I have tried have quite made it to the level of the French ones.

Also, when it comes to pricing, I am a believer in the general principle that you get what you pay for, but when it comes to wine, the law of diminishing returns comes into play. A $20 bottle of wine is not necessarily going to be twice as good as a $10 one, and the higher you go, the less bang you get in return for your buck. The most expensive champagne I’ve ever had was a Perrier Jouet Fleur, and it wasn’t worth the extra money, IMO. I’d take any of the others I’ve mentioned here (which are all less expensive) over it.

11

I’m sorry that my post came off as being rude. I meant what I said in a very literal sense. I wanted to know if you had a lower limit on your search, and wether you were looking for great flavor or prestige. Some people drink cristal just for the label, as you stated you are not one of them. There is something to be said about exotic indulgences though.

This:

should have been stated more like this:

12

A good wine *can *come in any flavor, you said you didn’t want to be disappointed, I wasn’t sure if your disappointment in what you tasted was due to the wine itself or simply your dislike for a particular style or blend.

If you’re open to any or all styles, then do you have an idea of how you’ll drink the bottle? With food? What kind? Before or after a meal? As a toast without food? With dessert?

How you plan on drinking it will make a difference in what style you might want to consider, what sweetness level, light, medium, full-bodied, what blend of grapes, etc.

Personally, in that price range, I’d start narrowing down my choices at that level before I started looking at Champagne house names or vintages. Decide on the style and the characteristics you are expecting from the wine, then look at the better houses that are known for excelling in that particular type, or checking vintage charts for better years. I think your chances of being satisfied with your choice will improve greatly.

I’ve been intrigued by Aussie sparkling shiraz but have yet to try it. I have tried a couple of sparkling merlots and was really underwhelmed by them. (Actually, I was pretty happy to spit them out, they just didn’t do it for me.) I’ll have to remember to look for a shiraz. Maybe for camping this weekend.

13

My favourite is not very well-known: Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blanc. It’s from France. Yummy.