My wife and I are in the process of trying to find our go-to NV champagne.
Tasted so far (over the last year or so, so I dont have all the specific notes):
Taittinger
Louis Roederer
Billecart-Salmon
Bollinger Special Cuvee
Mumm
Pol Roger
Nyetimber Classic Cuvee
R de Ruinart
Ruinart BdeB
Lenoble Mag 16
Lenoble Mag 15
Lanson
Heidsieck Blue Monopole
To taste:
Piper Heidsieck
Tarlant
Tarlant Zero
Charles Heidsieck
Interested by a Billecart-Salmon Sous Bois but I hear lelss than impressive things about it so may leave it off.
I want to try a Delamotte too.
So far, the Taittinger, Billecart-Salmon, Louis Roederer and Pol Roger are top for me. If I had to pick, bearing in mind these weren’t in an evening, I’d say Taittinger or B-S come top. Very disappointed by the Bollinger - maybe a bad bottle, but it was bland and indistinct. The Ruinarts were very disappointing as well, and wont be revisiting them. Generally I find Moet/Mumm/Lanson to be too effervescent to be up my street.
Given this, can you guys give me some suggestions or opinions please? I’m gutted about Louis Roederer moving to MV rather than NV, as its bumped the price up a fair bit. QPR wise, I think the Taittingier or Pol Roger are the top of my list.
the below tend to be in the high 30s to mid- high- 40s on sale and are in constant rotation.
chartogne saint anne
robert moncuit’s entry level
pierre peters is a no brainer
perseval farge makes i think 2 entry level, one a rose
bereche brut reserve
laherte (as mentioned above)
marc hebrart another no brainer
it’s a shockingly crowded space imo and one that produces some terrific qpr.
Not clear who you’re talking to, but you raise a good question. I’d put Grand Cellier on my list, but I think it’s running $50 these days, from good sources; their Grande Reserve is a pass for me.
Im not great on styles, but I’d love to know if anything stylistically matches (or is even consistent) with Taittinger, Pol Roger, Louis Roederer.
Like I said, I found the Bollinger Special Cuvee to be very disappointing considering the hype I see it get - maybe just a bad bottle. It just tasted so bland and indistinct.
This is a very good list though sadly prices have crept up significantly on Bereche and Peters. Chartogne has probably been my most consumed Champagne in the past year. For some other contenders I’d add Paul Bara, Jose Dhondt, Larmandier-Bernier, Agrapart, Pehu-Simonet, and Sabine Godme.
If I had to pick one of these as a house champagne, without considering price, I’d be torn between Bereche and Peters.
I love a lot of what’s already been named. Of those missing, the most obvious to me is the entire line of Marc Hebrart champagnes. They are screaming values and uber delicious.
