champagne

Anyone have an interest and/or favorite champagne? It's not just for breakfast, you know.

Has anyone here ever had any really good champagne? I really don't like the champagne I've had, but I suspect as much as anything it's because it seldom ever costs more than $10 per bottle.

Is expensive champagne really worth the money in terms of smoother, less jumbled, more mature flavors than the typical $10 bottle?

I've wondered the same thing myself. Champagne tends to give me a bit of a headache. I'll stick with red wine unless I'm toasting a bride and groom.

It's only bad/cheap champagne that gives you a headache, something I didn't discover until my mid or late 30s. We drink Lanson, which goes for about $25 a bottle so, needless to say, we save it for special occasions -- although I must say we try to find reasons to have special occasions!

> 2

Has anyone here ever had any really good champagne?

Yes, indeed! When I was on my honeymoon, eons ago, when the dollar was actually strong against the franc, we brought home Perrier-Jouët Fleur de Champagne from Paris. It was wonderful. I'm also fond of Veuve Cliquot.

Like rebeccanyc, though, I cannot afford it regularly. More's the pity.

Yes! Perrier-Jouet is the best! The price scale is quite varied with this brand depending on if it's vintage or not. You can get this year's off the shelf for about $30, which for a special occasion isn't bad at all.
I also really like Veuve-Cliquot, but Perrier is my favorite. It's so good it got my husband to drink champagne, and normally he drinks Guinness.

>7 oakes: Agree. A good Spanish cava does the trick for those of us with lower budgets.

#7 Agree about prosecco, although I've only had it in restaurants.

I've had prosecco and liked the taste, but had a raging headache the next day. I know some people have that reaction with Chardonnay because of the high sugar levels.
For a more casual champagne I usually get Mumm's cuvee, which is delicious and costs about $13-14. But I was in BevMo this week and found that Yellowtail wineries has a sparkling wine for $10. I tried it and I'm impressed. The top notes are apple and pear and then it finished with a honey note.

I second the recommendation for Yellowtail's sparkling wine. Very drinkable and affordable. I once had the really expensive stuff -- Mumm's -- the $125 a bottle kind. I didn't drink the champagne I could afford for a year afterwards. That stuff is pricey for a reason.

I adore champagne and will even drink the plonky stuff if that's all I can afford -- though I do draw the line at Andre. I've been able to drink Freixenet, and Korbel's -- but Cook's gives me a headache.

Andre reminds me of parties at university! It was always $2 a bottle ... which should give you some indication of how it tasted.

I'm a Veuve-Cliquot woman, myself, but I'm trying to plan my 2009 wedding and, unfortunately, I don't see Veuve for 100 guests fitting into the budget. We'll definitely be going the prosecco route.

Wuz de woid? Thunderboid!
Wuz de price? Fitty twice!
Who drinks it mos'? Us po' folks!

(Modified for taste).

ROTFLOL, geneg! Ah...champagne tastes and a Walmart budget -- that's me.

I was wondering if anyone had tried Sharfen-Berger champagne. I saw it on the shelf once about 2 months ago and didn't get it and haven't seen it again.
I've learned my lesson.

For anyone interested in champagne, I've just finished Fabulous Fizz by Alice King. It has sections throughout the book that list the champagnes by region and maker and describe the notes of that particular champagne. Makes it easier to find a particular flavor, say if you want a hint of vanilla or lemon in your champagne.

There's also a rather decent new book by Tilar Mazzeo, The Widow Cliquot:The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled it.

Wow! I just mooched The Widow Cliquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled it from Bookmooch. Hopefully, it will come soon, I keep hearing good things about it. What a gal!

It seems that I'm responsible for bringing the champagne for Christmas this year. I've been wanting to try a rose champagne and was wondering if anyone has tasted a few?

>7 oakes:

In Las Vegas at a marvelous restaurant in the Venetian, I had a wonderful after-dinner drink made with Prosecco. It's called Sgroppino:

Ingredients:

2 cups (16 oz) lemon sorbet, softened
2 Tbsp vodka (optional)
1/3 cup Il Sogno di Annibale prosecco*
4 Tbsp cream or half-and-half

Instructions:

Chill 4 to 6 champagne flutes.

In a bowl, whisk lemon sorbet until smooth. Gradually whisk in vodka, cream and Prosecco. (All ingredients may also be mixed in a blender.) Pour mixture into a pitcher and serve immediately in chilled champagne flutes. The sorbetto will separate if left standing.

Serves 4 to 6.

For real champagne, I recommend: Nicolas Feuillatte and Moët et Chandon. Not cheap, you can tell the difference.
I developed a taste for it vacationing in France. A host once gave me Asti when I was 16 and tried to pass it off as champagne. It got ugly. Luckily for me, my host had a sense of humour.

Nice to hear about Feuillate. That's one I've yet to try.
I also can't drink Asti, especially after years of the drier champagnes. The thought of it reminds me of a friend who told me she had to put sugar in good champagne because it wasn't sweet enough for her. Yuck!

There is a third main character in Amélie Nothomb's last novel Le fait du prince: champagne. The main one is the veuve-clicquot, but also mentioned are dom-pérignon, krug, roederer. There is also this delightful quote (which I'll do my best to translate since I read the book in French):

There is a moment, between the fifteenth and sixteenth sip of champagne, where man becomes an aristocrat. This moment escapes most of humankind for a mediocre reason: human beings are in such a hurry to become completely drunk that they drown this fragile instant where they could attain nobility.

Didn't even know this group existed. Cool thread.

Love champagne, only drink the real stuff.

My favorite is Piper-Heidsieck but I also like Moët et Chandon and Pommery.

Never tried any of the Italian variations.

FicusFan- have you tried POP by Pommery? It's in the small bottles and you drink it out of a straw. Very delicious.

my friends and I like to drink Sofia in a can - Coppola's sparker, it comes in pink cans with a pink bendy straw, too. A little on the sweet side for me, but still yummy.

As far as bubbly dessert wines go, there is a muscato from a winery called Saracco (I think it's a winery - the word "Saracco" is on the label) and it is delicious. Tastes like nectar.

I spent quite a bit of time in Champagne (Reims primarily) with growers during the vendange and with some of the houses. It was interesting to find that there is often a difference between bottles for the French market and bottles for export - French bottles tend to be dosed with marc after remuage/degorgement.

It's very different to see a restaurant wine list with 5 pages of champagne and only a couple of bottles of Burgundy. Not quite as extreme as the Cognac region but quite the reversal!

I drank a lot of Blanc de Blancs when there - it's a reasonably priced alternative to true Champagne.

And it's only Champagne if it comes from Champagne!

#25, mstrust. yes I love them. Champagne to go !

#27 it's only Champagne if it comes from Champagne!

thank you for that!

blanc de blancs is a lovely alternative and there are many delicious sparkling wine alternatives (like prosecco).

I'm from the cognac region so I'd love a discussion, but that's for another thread...!

>29 Cecilturtle: I also like some Cremant.

I love the Cognac region, but it's a long time since I've been there.

I had a bottle of cremant last night to celebrate the 14th of July (France's national holiday) - what a delight. I'd forgotten how nice it was!

I've never had cremant. How's it differ from champagne?