Affordable age-worthy champagnes?

WINE TALK
1

Is this an oxymoron? Affordable for me tops out around $50. Is it worth making room in my cellar for champagne at or below this price point?

2

NV Billiot Brut around $35
2002 Billiot Brut $60

3

Bollinger NV ages really nicely

4

if that avatar is you, why care whether it’s ageable?!
Good luck; I look forward to the answers.
alan

5

Zach,

When you say age worthy, how long do you mean? 5,10,15,20,25+ years? Knowing that can make a big difference. Additionally, is there a certain style/character you like?

6

Not Zach, but I’d love some pointers on this as well. I personally prefer Champagne with that yeast / bread dough / mushroom types of things going on, which I think (but correct me if I’m wrong) gets more pronounced with age.

7

If you can hike your budget to around $60/bottle, you can still find a few QPR champagnes from the excellent 1996 vintage, which are drinking well now and should age for another 5+ years. My three favorites are the 1996 Henriot, the 1996 Lenoble, and the 1996 Duval-Leroy.

8

In a great vintage, the Pol Roger vintage cuvees (other than the spectacular but pricier Winston Churchill) are tough to beat at a reasonable price point. There is plenty of data to back up their aging potential. The issue is that you need to be ready to pounce when they are released to get them at a price that is still reasonable.

9

Lanson Black Label NV needs a few years to blossom, given its high acidity. Ditto the vintage Gold label. Both offer very good value and the Vintage in particular ages very well

10

Beacause Alan, when you spray Champagne all over your shirt, it’s easier for your mum (mom) to get it out if it’s aged!

11

I have no idea of availability, but if you can find any:

  1. Legras & Haas, both the Brut Tradition and the Blanc de blanc Grand Cru age beautifully … they should be around 35-40 $ …

  2. Jacquesson, both AVIZE GC BdB - and Vintage can age vg … and what I have tasted last week was excellent … I´m not sure if they are still below 50.00
    However I found the NV-cuvée 732, 733, 734 not as good as earlier examples (728/729) …

Gerhard

12

I’ve had some very nice NV Billecart Salmon that had spent five years or so in the cellar. I actually think this wine does better with some bottle age on it. Not sure how they’d do beyond that time frame, but I’d wager that they’d do well.

Usually around $40 at this end of the country.

13

NV Louis Roederer Brut Premier ages very well for 7-10 years after release.
It has a higher percentage of reserve wine than most NV’s, which may be the reason.
Widely available <$40, sometimes in the low-$30’s.

14

My time horizon is long but really I’m just looking for champagnes that are worth following and will give me some clues about the rewards of cellaring champagne. As for style, I like Billecart-Salmon and Roederer NVs quite a bit, and the one '96 I’ve tasted was 100% PN and had a mushroomy, earthy character I really enjoyed.

Thanks for all the replies! Alan: not me in my avatar, Carlos Ruiz.

15

Zach,

$50 is tough to find really nice, age-worthy Champagne, but it can be done. Good quality NVs can be found readily in this price range and many will age nicely for at least a decade (sometimes much longer). For vintage wines, you will likely have to look for sales and quantity discounts, but with some searching, you can find them. As you likely will be dealing in lower level or basic vintage wines, I would encourage you to steer towards better vintages. 96, 02, and 04 are all recent vintages with good long term prospects. I like 98 too, but these are tending to drink well on the earlier side.

Based on what you state you like, the following pop to mind for NVs:
NV Louis Roederer
NV Charles Heidsieck
NV Bollinger
NV Perrier-Jouet
NV Henri Billiot
NV Camille Saves
NV Henriot Blanc de Souverain
NV Vilmart
NV Lanson

For vintage wines, the following sometimes drop down to around $50 and below:
Godme
Camille Saves
Henri Billiot
Chartogne-Taillet
Henriot
Louis Roederer
Lanson
Drappier
Pehu-Simonet

For the earthy, mushroomy character, normally some Pinot (Noir/Meunier) needs to be involved. There are plenty more than what I list above, but these are all quite nice wines and most have a good kick of Pinot.

16

Awesome Brad, thank you. Page bookmarked!

17

Michel Turgy NV

18

NV Diebolt Vallois Prestige Cuvee BdB would take my vote. I’ve had it a couple times the past few months and it’s fantastic young, but I could see this easily aging a good 10 years.

19

Veuve Clicquot is the queen of biscuity, doughy polished aged champagne. But steer clear of their non vintage wines [bleh.gif] . Extreme patience is required though (20+ years after vintage).

The problem with those bready aromas is that they are more common in pinot noir dominated wines, and it’s much easier to find inexpensive good quality chardonnay wines.

But my main penny-pincher tip would be Camille Saves.

Another answer would be that practically all champagne can be aged for at least five years and only get better, so buy whatever.