Best champagne under $50

WINE TALK
1

I’m not a fan of champagne, probably because I’ve never had many opportunities to drink it. What is the best champagne under $50 at Total Wine? Go.

2

Vintage Krug or Salon (when you can find them).

Edit: did not see the $50 (topic was originally best champagne at total wine). If the stars align, my local total has Pierre Peters at ~65 and then use a pick 6 or 15% off coupon to get it close to $50)

3

I would say either the Billecart Salmon Brut Reserve for $47.99 or the De Saint Gall Blanc de Blancs for $43.99

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4

I don’t think you can find either of those, especially not for under $50 at Total Wine :rofl:

5

I’m not sure such wines would convince you to become a fan. Maybe.

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A friend who is getting pretty high up in the WSET program and drinks an impressive range of quality champagne recently shared notes from a blind tasting in which he subjected his study group to the top ten champagne bottlings by volume produced.

This included mostly selections that can be found at many TW, Costco, and grocery stores for under $50 such as Piper Heidseick Brut, Mumm Grand Cordon, Laurent Perrier La Cuvee, Veuve, Taittinger La Francaise, Moët Imperiale, Perrier Jouet Grand Brut, etc.

The indisputed winner of the tasting - which I understand included a lot of dumping - was Nicholas Feuillatte Reserve Exclusive Brut which is $29.97 at my local TW.

I’ve never had it and it’s not what I would offer to change someone’s mind about champagne, but it fits your criteria so maybe you should try it and report back.

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7

I’ve had that; it’s high dosage swill.

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8

Sweet wins!

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9

Sadly it’s not great.

@S_Rash below is a good thread on reasonably priced Champagne. As someone who drinks mostly $30-60 wine, note that the difference between a $50 bottle and a $100 or even $75 bottle is pretty significant.

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10

Gosset Grande Reserve Brut is under $50
Not champagne but Schramsberg Blanc De Blancs is $35
For something even cheaper Roederer Estate for about $20 is not bad.

Not at TotalWine but if I was buying $50 champagne for myself it’d be Diebolt-Vallois

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11

Thanks for the responses. My wife and I turned in our last assignment for our Masters degree yesterday and she wanted a bottle of champagne to celebrate. I had a glass and then I opened a bottle of Ridge Paso Robles Zin for myself. I’ve tried lots of different styles of sparkling wine from champagne to Prosecco but just do not care for it

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Cuvée St Anne
Diebolt Vallois
Gonet Medeville

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13

c’mon man!!!

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14

I dont shop at TW so I dont know if they sell these and I dont have WS Pro at the moment so I dont know what is a fair price for these but perhaps Andre Clouet line. Looks like I got the Rosé for $35. It was much better than Paul Bara Rosé

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15

Hebrart rosé was damn good past week. About $50. For $60, P. Moncuit 08 wins for me.

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My first suggestion would be to look for a better shop if possible. Somewhere with truly knowledgeable staff to assist you. Roederer and Bill’i get are good and widely available though the latter is not under 50. I could list many good options under fifty but they are definitely not at Total.

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Thanks. We just needed something last minute and TW was the only thing open.

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What do you mean?

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Stephen, what have you tried within those styles? Can you post a short list to help appreciate what you have tried?

If you still have a curiosity about Champagne, and you’re willing to let a few of us say suggest a duo of bottles, say under $50, and you would be willing to pay for shipping, then you might be able to create a better chance to experience a few things that would modify your experience of Champagne. There are a few discrete style directions you can take to explore the category, and I believe you will do better exploring, with a better breadth of success, if you look past Total Wine as the source.

I’d be happy to offer a few selections that provide diversity of style if you are willing to use a store that ships.

Good luck on your Champagne journey here if you go on it. It’s a magnificent space for wine.

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Thanks for your interest Frank. I know you’re a champagne lover and I would definitely be willing to take any suggestions that you have. I guess I just haven’t tried the right bottles.

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