NV Champagnes

[Rogers72]

I drink alot champgane as I know many of you do. I am by no means an expert on the topic and tend to stick with the NV's in that $30-$60USD range. I know there are plenty of great bubblies made outside of France at more affordable prices but I am curious to know if I am missing anything that you all may be enjoying from Champagne. I tend to stick mostly with what's readily available on shelves locally: Taittinger, Veuve Clicquot, Moet, Mumm, Piper Heidsieck, and Laurent Perrier.

I also love Ruinart (esp their Rose) and Brice and tend to favor the Taittinger among the most available.

What are your favorites?

[bassman]

Bollinger- favorites of James Bond and me!

[Rogers72]

Bollinger- favorites of James Bond and me!

This is actually one that I have never tried I don't think. I believe it fairly available here but it and Pol Roger seem to be a little harder for me to find.

[thechenman]

I'm more of a cheap proseco kinda guy...

[stargazer14]

This month I have been drinking Piper Sonoma NV Brut,

my favorite 'cheap' ($10) sparkling wine is

Domain St. Michele Brut.

[Ken Gargett]

Bollinger- favorites of James Bond and me!

bolly is terrific. krug, definitely! pol is always superb. VC has been in fantastic form over the last few years.

worth looking out for some of the small growers stuff as they can be really interested as well as extremely good.

bolly as 007's champers tends to be more a marketing thing. in the books, he moved about but drank a fair bit of dom and also taittinger's comte de champagne and a bit more.

[reg]

I'd love to hear some cheap recommendations

[Ken Gargett]

I'd love to hear some cheap recommendations

depends entirely where you are. prices vary enormously between markets - even in markets.

that said, it is rare that you find much better value than pol anywhere.

[Guest rob]

I find that drinking champagne intereferes with my wine, beer and spirit drinking time.

...needless to say I am not such a fan.

[Colt45]

I'd love to hear some cheap recommendations

If you would consider something other than French, two of my favorite proseccos are Carpenè Malvolti and De Faveri, both brut. A bit more expensive

but well worth it is a spumante made from the erbaluce grape called Cuvée del Fondatore produced ny Ferrando. It's extra dry, but I've found that the

slight extra sugar enhances the flavor nicely.

[Onsto]

I'd love to hear some cheap recommendations

the Mumm that they are making 'under license' in Napa is surprisingly drinkable for $20 a bottle. It's not 'real' champagne, but I can't tell the difference.

[Ken Gargett]

the Mumm that they are making 'under license' in Napa is surprisingly drinkable for $20 a bottle. It's not 'real' champagne, but I can't tell the difference.

i suspect that it is not so much under licence as rather that mumm, like roederer and moet and others have set up an overseas operation there to make sparkling wine - from that region. they'd be the last to ever call it champagne, or suggest it was anything other than napa sparkling or aussie sparkling in our case. etc.

[dicko]

anyone have any thoughts on the Cattier NV ? Costs about $35 aud. Had a bottle last weekend, thought it was pretty good. Some really good Aussie ones around that price though

[JMH]

My two favourites would be bollinger & roederer.

[Ken Gargett]

anyone have any thoughts on the Cattier NV ? Costs about $35 aud. Had a bottle last weekend, thought it was pretty good. Some really good Aussie ones around that price though

assume that would be from vintage cellars? i think they have cattier exclusively but might be wrong on that. terrific little house in chigny les roses. i like their fizz (they have gone way upmarket with some gold bottled armand something - latest drink of rappers and baseball stars. a squillion a bottle). but the basic stuff is good and good value.

[Buch0]

I find it hard to go past Veuve or Piper, I cant justify the price of Dom.. In Australia anyway.

[Ken Gargett]

I find it hard to go past Veuve or Piper, I cant justify the price of Dom.. In Australia anyway.

dom is a wonderful champagne but certainly not cheap.

i'm fascinated that you would pick veuve and piper - they are poles apart in style. piper has changed the house style enormously in recently years, and the manner in which they make it. veuve is glorious these days - an absolute superstar over the last four or five years.

[Buch0]

dom is a wonderful champagne but certainly not cheap.

i'm fascinated that you would pick veuve and piper - they are poles apart in style. piper has changed the house style enormously in recently years, and the manner in which they make it. veuve is glorious these days - an absolute superstar over the last four or five years.

I have only had experience with Piper in probably the last 12 months and its only been of the rare brut, haven't tried the house stuff yet. Me and some mates were recently travelling through Thailand and on our last night in Bangkok (stayed at the Pathumwan Princess hotel adjoining MBK) we had 4 bottles of the stuff in the hotels bar.. Gifting one to the fine ladies behind the bar at 3am after they had put up with our ruckus for the night They were ever so grateful seeing as it was probably worth their monthly wages combined, they sat down after their shift and shared it with us.

Agree with you on the veuve, I haven't found any I favour more to be honest. Anything else you can recommend that compares for around that same price range?

[Ken Gargett]

I have only had experience with Piper in probably the last 12 months and its only been of the rare brut, haven't tried the house stuff yet. Me and some mates were recently travelling through Thailand and on our last night in Bangkok (stayed at the Pathumwan Princess hotel adjoining MBK) we had 4 bottles of the stuff in the hotels bar.. Gifting one to the fine ladies behind the bar at 3am after they had put up with our ruckus for the night They were ever so grateful seeing as it was probably worth their monthly wages combined, they sat down after their shift and shared it with us.

Agree with you on the veuve, I haven't found any I favour more to be honest. Anything else you can recommend that compares for around that same price range?

the rare is indeed rare and in aust at least, horrendously exy. terrific champers but i'd actually have the dom as far better value. basic piper is fine but more along the lines of a cheap quaffer. they used to do no malo so it was quite firm, acidic and very long lived but that was hardly the profile for a 'popular' champers that they were keen to push truckloads of. now much softer, sweeter, easy to drink.

if you like veuve, try pol and prhaps jacquesson. plenty of others. i've emailed a couple of the writers in sydney to see if i can find a shop selling some of the growers stuff which is really interesting. if you buy decent quantities, give bernadette a ring on 07 32521117 (they'll transfer you or give you the current number). she knows more about champers than anyone else in australia and has all sorts available at good pricing. lot of southerners buy from her (wine emporium in brizzy).

[Ken Gargett]

in sydney, try Five Way Cellars Ph 02 9360 42 42

Ask for Ian or Todd.

you're welcome to mention nick ryan or me (as nick says, you'll probably get charged an extra 20% if you do).

[Buch0]

Cheers for that mate I will give them a call.

[ZinZan]

Hey guys, quick question. What's good cigar to match with a Moet or Veuve?

[Colt45]

Hey guys, quick question. What's good cigar to match with a Moet or Veuve?

I like to go with one I enjoy smoking, myself

[Ken Gargett]

I like to go with one I enjoy smoking, myself

perfect advice.

[Ken Gargett]

I like to go with one I enjoy smoking, myself

perfect advice.