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.

you need to go on a wine course or something

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… 😀