Ever have bad Champagne ??

Struck me the other day how incredibly consistant Champagne is.

If you throw out stupidly old bottles and obvious things like flood or heat damaged bottles have you ever had bad champagne ?

Its never corked or tainted, even the worst tasting champagne is great to drink

Why is white burg such a cluster when champagne a few miles north is never bad ?

Although it seems to be rare, Champagne can be corked; I’ve had it a few times. Worst non-corked bottle I’ve ever had was a Billiot Laetitia.

6 months ago, at a good sized byob event someone brought a 1990 Jacquesson Champagne that was so badly oxidized or heat damaged that most couldn’t drink it and poured it in dump bucket. Too bad as it would have likely been superb if it was a good bottle.

Had a corked 1996 Dom…that sucked

While it is definitely less common than with still wines, I’ve had a number of corked Champagne bottles. I’ve also had some that, if not oxidized or otherwise flawed, never should have been put in the bottle.

Setting aside flaws, there are also some Champagnes out there that are just not fun to drink.

In general, though, the odds do seem to be better with Champagne than other wines.

While I’ve had bad bottles, I tend to agree that Champagne is likely the most consistent, consistently enjoyable, versatile, and food-friendly wine out there. It is also among the most flexible in terms of drinking windows.

I disagree. While I love good Champagne, I have had a lot of Champagne that taste thin and acidic and don’t have much flavor. While I find the producers I like to be very consistent, IMHO there is a lot of very mediocre Champagne out there.

There is a ton of horrific Champagne that is sold, I just tend to avoid it.

Had a corked 1999 CdC last night, and while I agree it seems the percentage of corked Champagnes is less than other regions, it isn’t an insignificant percentage.

Have also had some pre-mox’d Champagne as well, with the majority from 1996.

I had a badly oxidized 96 Dom, but storage was a total question mark.

A half bottle of Krug mv was very acidic, and close to undrinkable. It was after all only a half bottle, so we managed to finish it. A second half was less acidic but still not great. It shows what strong minded people we are that we managed to finish that too.

I’ve had way too many corked champagnes and some very oxidised bottles of older bottles= 35+ years. As to bad, it comes down to personal preferences in many instances IMHO. I’m generally not a fan of 100% Pinot Meunier like those from Daniel Ginsberg/ de Meric and in the last few years not liking high dosage in most that are= 8-10 g/l +.

I’m with Howard and Ray. I have had tons of crappy champagne, unbalanced champagne and mediocre champagne. Only a few old bottles that were corked. Definitely some oxidized old bottles. Not the same minefield that is white Burg, but tons of crap out there. Lots of stuff as well that is very popular but which I find unpleasant to drink based on my own tastes, like Veuve yellow label, for example. The style lends itself to some degree of sameness at the lower levels - a very manipulated product overall - but dosage and other decisions can have incredible effects on taste…

Yes I’ve had a few corked and oxidized bottles. From my experience TCA present in the bottles is less than other wine regions but still there. For many people the bubbles can mask flaws. Then of course there is a ton of really bad champagne out there.

Several times - the extra-cheesy bottles over the years (don’t remember producers, tried to forget) plus a few that had all KINDS of random funk, like baby poop, etc. I’d say at least 10% of my bottles were ‘bad’

I tend not to like the currently in-vogue super-mineral and zero dosage style (unless its really well done), so I’ve run into a bunch I don’t like. I like really oxidized wines to start, so I’ve found enjoyment in even older bottles that others didnt like. As for TCA, I have been really lucky and not had many.

I had one premoxed bottle out of four 1990 Dom, bought on release and well-stored. I heard of other cases of premox with that wine.

I’ve had some pretty bad ones, but I think what I have more are a bunch of wines not worth the price of entry.

Of course.

Most of it has a common problem: Veuve Cliquot

No.

I hate Agent Orange more for political reasons than for severe mediocrity, but even the cheapest, most industrial sw*ll is still a very pleasant beverage. I visited Marne et Champagne a few decades ago. The most basic wine tasted good. They then gave me a book with well over 100 labels not being sold in the U.S. from which I could choose should I care to purchase any.

Credit, even though I hate to give it, to the French and local authorities, who monitor quality closely enough that nothing undrinkably putrid ever is sold with the Appellation.

Dan Kravitz

BINGO!!!