[Closed] Champagne. Lovers and Haters this way please!!

hoops, before im rude about the blogpost...:is it yours? 😉

Well I canne stand the stuff but the g/f loves it, so I will try out that recommendation on her 😀

mans got some taste, Verve and Tattinger are my fav options, would love to try some of the proper expensive stuff! (moet is not to my taste though)

I got as as far as "a bottle of Louis Roederer Brut is only £30" and then pressed X.

My wife loves it, I can take it or leave it.

At the moment though she's mainly drinking cocktails like Champagne Mojitos or another one with Limoncello and mint so I can get away with buying sparkling Chardonnay or Prosecco instead 😉

Yep [url= http://dawonderful.blogspot.co.uk ]the blog[/url] is mine. Critique away, I can take it 😥

Comparing the two would be like trying to twin Yorkshire with Dubai.

You mean they're not twinned?

Someone ought to get onto that quickly.....

It was always Chihuahua to us prosecco drinking plebs 😉

Champers 🙄

Good info though, tx. Good stuff is great but the big names rarely seem to cut it at any price I'm willing to pay

Grizla - good spot!

I always bring a load of the 2/3 euro stuff back from France, it's great. And if you get some that's not that great, just stick some cassis in it!! 😀

sorry, you're putting bubbles in a pint glass? really? or was that cider just for the pics?

I struggled to read as the pics were making me cringe. Not the snobbery of it, but champain glasses are their shape for a reason, like other drink specific glasses...

Cremant is betterer. It predates the Champagne method (Perignon is lauded by some, merely a plagiarist to others) and its cheaper by loads.
Roederer brut, or Heidsieck Monopole tops for price/quality/availability IME.

I do find most Champagne a bit hmm well... nothing special really.

Prosseco on the other hand, I've often found quite refreshing and enjoyable. Sometimes even the 3 euro a bottle stuff can be quite drinkable.

Each to their own I suppose.

Tattinger or Veuve cliquot for me in that order but tesco premier cru is surprisingly decent, there's always one of the big supermarkets doing deals. I don't really drink these days so whenever i do it tends to be a blowout wi mates and a good few bottles - for something different mix 4 parts champagne to 1 part good brandy, add 5ml dissolved cane sugar and a couple of dash's of angostura bitters - dunno what it's called but it's bloody nice.

Try this English one, its superb!

http://www.chapeldown.com/Default.aspx

I had some Heidsieck t'other night as it happens. Was quite nice. I'll def have a look at the chapeldown site although the ultimate goal is a bottle of Billecart Salmon which isn't expensive but tricky to get hold of without blowing a bank account on the postage.

Try this English one, its superb!

Yep, I would much, much rather drink a good English sparkling than an NV champagne. As well as Chapel Down, I recommend Nyetimber and Camel Valley rosé.

I went to a champagne tasting evening a few months ago. Whilst the £250 Krug was my favourite of the evening, some much cheaper wines ran it surprisingly close, including a £15 Cremant.

googling Nyetimber as we speak 🙂

Just call in on some of the producers in reims and by a van load it's as cheap as anything

It's one of my favourite weekends away - pick a couple of the villages, wander about tasting and buying from the little producers. Once you've got away from the major brands and tried some yummy small producer stuff the mass produced version just tastes horrible. We've had great mini-holidays in Cramant, Ay, Hautvilliers, Avize and Chouilly. Base yourself in Épernay and you can't go wrong.

crap drink... always refuse a sip of anything bubbly after having had a few beers... makes me vomit.

yuck!

had nyetimber at our wedding, a touch sweeter than most champagne but lovely

There's a reason you see sportspeople spraying champagne around at the end of Grand Prix and the like. It's because that's all it's good for.

Amusing blog nevertheless.

Louis Roederer Quartet very similar to Krug Grand cuvée, but if you fancy something with more character go for Deutz brut classic. And they aren't as expensive as Krug, those cost slightly more or the same as highstreet names.

You obviously have little to no knowledge of the subject in hand, but I'll forgive that as you are aware of the divine marriage between champagne and curry. 8)
Also a fan of Veuve, I vaguely remember skulling a magnum (from the bottle, 'cause I is classy) at a BBQ recently.
Or it could have been three years ago, god bless alcohol.

Has anyone done the "massive marketing con to convince people that various, traditionally unwelcome results of sub-optimal wine-making conditions are actually a good thing and worth paying a massive premium for" thing yet?

Champagne is OK but sometimes it tastes a little like puke. I wonder how many people unknowingly mispronounce "Moët"?

good call ocrider - Cremant de Bourgogne can be really great and good cavas are well worth looking out for too (you don't get it in the supermarkets tho, frexienet is NOT good cava)

your opinion on prosecco is wrong, there are some crap ones out there but there are quite a few that are much better than some of the ones on your blog

I like champagne - there are some awful cheaper ones tho, and some supposedly expensive ones that are just overpriced. As others have said, go to Epernay and find out the local producers (my champagne tip, Guy Charbaut)

Nyetimber...I have a Rose in the wine cooler waiting to be opened!

Very good and great value.

The Brits drink more champagne than any other country. Very partial myself but it's got ridiculously expensive, Ayala (Ramsey house Champagne) was £15 a bottle now £30. Cement is great for every day drinking and €6 a bottle in France.

Delamotte NV every time total bargain £26
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champagne_Delamotte

Okay when mixed with tequila or drunk in vast quantities, otherwise mleh

I rather like the Nicolas Feu..... You know the stuff. Agree about the Etienne Dumont.... I learnt the hard way. On offer in Sainsbo I went for half a crate to get the extra 5% off. That was 2 or 3 Chrimbo ago.... Still got a bottle knocking around under the stairs I think 😥

Had Champagne 11 times last week as i turned 40. had South east of England Nyetimber it was very good very oaky very chardonnay very good good ,had some Spanish cave it was great , had some Verve had some moet but my favorite was a laurant perrier Rose (£100) a bottle little Trev loved it too

I had to read all of that to discover it was a "What tyres for a boot sale" thread?! Fire XC Pros?!

You guys need some of South Australia's best invention:

[url= http://www.sparklingshiraz.com.au/ ]Sparkling Shiraz[/url]

I always feel guilty when I buy Champagne, it's one bottle less for export and given the state of France's balance of payments... . It was my birthday recently, the Crémant d'Alsace was excellent.

Champagne ruined my wedding night. Well, me drinking it in the heat of St.Lucia, did anyway!
Was ill.
Hate the stuff.

The blog is a good read, but for me Champagne is the most over-rated, over-priced poncy alcopop going!

Bought a bottle of Lanson Black Label for £20 in Tesco last night...

Some truly epic feedback, I thank you.

wool - I'd forgotten about Delamotte! uber good call

sbob - we should do lunch

edd - not had that for a while, don't remember any bad things. Please update me in the morning 🙂

I've drank a lot of champagne in the last year to find what to provide at our recent wedding. Not just because I was paying for it, but eventually we went for Aldi at £13 a bottle. We had been holding out for the wife's preferred choice Louis Chaurey from M&S to drop to £15 but it didn't materialise until the week after! We also went for some Aldi prosecco for reception which was nice. Drank the last leftover bottle of that last night.

I like quality champagne ie Ruinart, most vintage stuff, Noble Cuvee etc, when someone else is paying. for standard Non Vintage Brut you may as well buy two bottles of quality something else ie Deutz, Jansz etc. Champagne is over priced IMO.

re your blog, don't know why you've gone on a rant about Prosecco (as well as spelling it wrong) there are also many other sparkling wines from many other countries that are not Champagne, what was your point?

A bottle of Louis Roederer Cristal is about £130 but a bottle of Louis Roederer Brut is only £30. Both are made by the same company, using the same technique, with the same grapes but one has a gold label and a longer shelf life thanks to a clever UV filtering wrapper.

Oh dear, pretty myopic view on Prosecco / sparkling wine there.

The best thing you can ever do is blind taste, so you concentrate on the product rather than the fact it cost over £100 a bottle.

For < £10 try Waitrose Valdo Oro Puro Prosecco Superiore (it's often on offer)
For < £20 try Cloudy Bay Pelorus

Both are great IMO.

+1 for Cremant de Bourgogne. 5-6 euro a bottle direct from the producer, same grapes, same method. Best tasting Champagne I ever tried. but then I am just a pleb 🙂

I've been fortunate to try a few differnt glasses of the bubbly stuff over the years... I even did a cellar tour at Moet in Epernay... I enjoyed the light read of the blog.

Dom P - lovely, pricey but lovely
Cristal - ok, but a bit flowery/perfumed for me, which is a good job as its rather expensive
Moet - crap
Veuve - a good solid reliable champers at a good price
Bolly - quite nice but Veuve is cheaper
Louis Roderer - pretty good, a bit left field, but nice.

Favourite drink is a Bellini made with Veuve BUT not with Prosicko as it ruins it.

We typically see very little of the big name stuff here in France when we drink it, or are offered it. It's interesting, but also )if I'm ever so open and honest at the expense of annoying people), to see how champagne is viewed in the UK. i.e. it's got this 'aura' of pretentiousness around it...and the more common the name the better it is. Apparently.

We had some great organic stuff at our wedding from a small producer.
But I prefer Clairette de Die anyway. Which is one reason why I ride the Dromoise Sportive every year as a free bottle is offered to most who enter.

Favourite drink is a Bellini made with Veuve BUT not with Prosicko as it ruins it.

I have quite a few Italian friends who would take issue with that!

The Wine Society does a great selection of fine champagnes, but personally I've yet to ever pick a £30 bottle of champagne over a £30 bottle of Pomerol!

+1 for Cremant de Bourgogne. 5-6 euro a bottle direct from the producer, same grapes, same method. Best tasting Champagne I ever tried. but then I am just a pleb

Take note, pleb. Champagne only comes from the Champagne region and is a licence to print money and wear silk cravates inside shirt collars. Nowadays it is better known as wine for mugs who like brand names more than the content. 😉

Crement de Bourgogne, Alsace, Limoux, blanquettes, clairettes, Saumur would be a first choice for me, either depending on where in France I'm buying it, or the special offer in the supermarket.

I'm feeling the need to start a "What are you drinking? (fine wines only)" niche thread, and maybe a "What Smoking Jacket?" directly underneath 🙂

Cremant is betterer. It predates the Champagne method

Another for Cremant De Bourgogne - Fantastic caves / sculptures on site also !!

I love Champagne.....especially when its free!

Love the "What Smoking Jacket?" thread idea

Haven't seen if it's been mentioned already but Ridgeview in Mid Sussex produce some great sparkling wines that are a lot better than a fair few champagnes I've tried. I only live round the corner from them so they're easy to get hold of and thoroughly recommended.

if it aint Dom P, its P... 😀