Not necessarily. The wholesale price is very low, but private client prices are variable and can be more than you can pay retail. The issue is secondary market prices that you often see from retailers not selling at the true markup. And of course the advantage to private client relationships is often the quantities available that you can’t find at “true” retail prices.
This is the same dynamic in the US. I’ve commented many times how frustrating it is that wineries try to sell their wines DTC at the same inflated 3-tier prices. The difference is that in the EU you don’t have so many hands in the cookie jar so the wholesale to retail spread is lower.
Qualitywise, every single bottle of LB Latitude and Longitude that I’ve had in the last, say, seven or eight years invariably ended up somewhere in the lowermost 5-10% of my overall Champagne drinking experience over the same period. Sorry, can’t put it any better than this.
Thanks for your interest, Frank, I must admit I’m quite flattered. Seriously, though, no great revelations. Take a random combination of some of the top names already discussed ad nauseam over the years on Champagne threads here and elsewhere (ranging from Aubry to, say, Vilmart, just to try and bring some kind of alphabetical order to it), shake, stir, pour, chances are you’ve already got my top 5-10% just about right
I’m with @Frank_Murray_III , I’ve consistently liked L-B and thought the value for the dollar was good.
Having said that, I haven’t tried it blind or side by side with a bunch of peers, nor is my overall Champagne knowledge very deep, so this is just one guy’s sort of casual opinion.
Anyway, it sounds like L-B isn’t going to be the next Instagram price skyrocket Champagne, at least, so good news for me.
Appreciate you taking my question as intended. I don’t like the exchanges in our forum where stuff gets misinterpreted, then snarky, then worse. Coincidentally, you can see @Chris_Seiber reply follow yours. He’s taught me a lot over the years about grace, kindness, respect. I owe him a lot for that friendship and what he’s taught.
As to your wines, I’m with you on Vilmart. We disagree on L-B and yet we can still learn from each other, even in the midst of disagreement.
I have a bottle of Guillaume Sergent ‘Le Chemin des Chappes’ Extra Brut in the fridge to open tonight. A producer I heard about from @D_Pennet in this thread somewhere, picked up one to try today.
Looking forward to trying it, and I’ll try to share an impression.
Our work tonight. Georges Remy a bit on the messy, boozy (no pun intended) side of things (and I do generally prefer my Champagne nice, clean, and entirely sober ). Christian Gosset’s Ay absolutely phenomenal and very much at the opposite end of the spectrum, very focused and very much demanding some focus in return, normally happy to oblige but maybe next time :-). Finally, Goutorbe Bouillot NC, just right for a simple soul like me, excellent balance, great rive droite PN fruit shining through (for whatever reason, I sometimes get this northern, wintery feel from Cumieres and Damery), no one stood in the way, got the message loud and clear tonight.
Thank you, Frank, appreciation is mutual. This is a wine forum… most things we talk about here are a matter of taste. No accounting for taste, they say. On the other hand… “and you tell me, my friends, that there is no disputing of taste and tasting? But all of life is a dispute over taste and tasting. Taste – that is at the same time weight and scales and weigher; and woe unto all the living that would live without disputes over weight and scales and weighers!”
Just kidding… all in good faith and friendship. Voila’.
Please include any bottle info you can, Counselor. I’d appreciate it.
I think I’m gonna open Marguet or Marie Courtin tonight and watch some episodes of the new series on Netflix called Break Point. Looks really good and Australian Open starts tonight too.
N.V. Guillaume Sergent Champagne Premier Cru Le Chemin des Chappes
I’m really enjoying this wine. It combines a higher acid, clean, Extra Brut style (1g dosage?) with a caressing, slightly creamy style that comes from elevage in barrels. 50% PN / 50% PM. Pretty relaxed and fine bubbles, which I like. Lots of crisp red berries and red apple, lots of stony river mineral, white spice and lime on the finish.
I assume there is some disgorgement information, perhaps unreadably in raised glass letters inside the punt, which I can’t even read (even drying it off and using a flashlight), much less understand. God I hate so much how Champagne obscures the information you want on the bottles (if it’s even provided at all), but that’s a topic for a different thread probably.
This is a wine that stylistically works for me, kind of in the Vilmart type of texture. I’m going back for some more.
). Christian Gosset’s Ay absolutely phenomenal and very much at the opposite end of the spectrum, very focused and very much demanding some focus in return, normally happy to oblige but maybe next time :-). Finally, Goutorbe Bouillot NC, just right for a simple soul like me, excellent balance, great rive droite PN fruit shining through (for whatever reason, I sometimes get this northern, wintery feel from Cumieres and Damery), no one stood in the way, got the message loud and clear tonight.
