After starting to love wine in the past year, I’ve been trying to explore as many regions as possible. The one bug that I have never caught is Champagne. I’ve tried some decent examples (and some not so decent ones), but never anything from the top shelf. I just don’t seem to enjoy any of them… the best I can get is “tolerable”. So, my question is: Are the top shelf champagnes qualitatively different than entry-levels and is it worth spending the money to give it a try before I write off champagne, or is it just a quantitative quality improvement over the characters that you can start to see in cheaper versions?
Here’s a list of the champagnes/sparkling wines that I’ve tried so far:
Bleasdale Shiraz The Red Brute
Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir Brut Rosé
Besserat de Bellefon Champagne Cuvée des Moines Brut Rose
2002 Gloria Ferrer Royal Cuvée Vintage Reserve
Gruet Blanc de Blancs
Piper Sonoma Brut Select Cuvée
Lini Lambrusco Bianco
Zonin Prosecco Brut
Schramsberg Vineyards Mirabelle Brut
Gloria Ferrer Brut
Drusian Prosecco di Valdobbiadene
2008 Vino Dei Fratelli Moscato d’Asti
Louis Bouillot Crémant de Bourgogne Blanc de Noirs
Taittinger Champagne Brut
Henry Varnay Brut Blanc de Blancs
No. You do not like Champagne.
As far as I can see there are only two to three “real” Champagnes on your list !
I would never call a “simple” sparkling wine a Champagne - because not only this term is limited (at least here in Europe) to the Wines of the region with the same name …
moreover and very important:
Usually there is a huge difference in quality and character between a (good) Champagne and the rest of the sparkling wines worldwide …
Two points:
- Yes, there are minor (uninteresting, boring, even bad) Champagnes … often in the 12 to 25 € range … somtimes up to 35/40
- Yes, there are some sparkling wines that can compete with those low level Champagnes - but usually they are not cheap either … often 10-25+ €
So I would recommend to buy a really good bottle of Champagne - and taste it.
(no idea of availablity for you)
A 3rd point: Champagne is much more sensible to bad storage/shipping conditions … so I´ve had enough Champagnes that didn´t live up to my expectations … most probably for that reason …
Given your signature, what would you say is someone said “Do I even like Sauternes?” and listed a bunch of Sauternes that they had from California, Australia and Italy, along with one or two minor Sauternes? Their proper question would be “Do I even like white dessert wines?” while yours needs to be “Do I even like sparkling wines?”
The answer is that you do not appear to like sparkling wines, but don’t seem to have enough exposure to answer whether you like Champagne yet. The good news is you can have some fun trying to find out.
Also VERY important is what you served these wine with. Champagegne and even the sparklers you mentioned like SALT, Crunch, Smoke and Savory, NOT strawberries or wedding cake.
It sounds like you don’t like Sparkling Wine… right now. Don’t completely write off the category forever. Instead, continue to drink the stuff you do like, and when the opportunity presents itself, continue tasting sparkling wines. You may find that your palate evolves, and you begin liking the bubs.
Also, based on your signature, it seems like you have a little bit of a sweet tooth. Look for Demi-Sec Champagnes (not easy to come by, these days) which isn’t as dry as the Brut style you’ve been drinking.
This is an excellent point. My wife and I are beginning to realize there is a noticeable difference between most Champagne and most Sparkling wines from elsewhere. Note I said “most” because there are exceptions.
Sparkling Shiraz and Lambrusco have nothing in common with Champagne except bubbles. It is like comparing Washington Syrah to Sancerre and saying " I don’t think I like wine". Get some grower bottles and taste against big production houses like Henriot. Taste in red wine glasses so you can truly experience the aromatics. Sample through, Brut, Rose, BdB and BdN and discover what style may or may not appeal to you.
If you make it to the other side with disdain for Champagne, then you know you don’t care for it.
Ashish,
I hope this doesn’t come off as rude because that is not the way I want it to sound, but, as a group, the selections you list are below average in terms of quality. Of your list, the only wines I would and do purchase are:
- 2002 Gloria Ferrer Royal Cuvée Vintage Reserve
- Gloria Ferrer Brut
- Taittinger Champagne Brut
Of the three above, the Gloria Ferrer Brut is an easy drinking, large party wine, but I only buy it when it is on sale. Same goes for the NV Taittinger. The 2002 Royal Cuvee is a good wine, but I think it needs a few years to really show what it has and drinking it now without knowing what it will become can lead to premature conclusions (at least IMO).
While Champagne and sparkling wines are not going to be liked by everyone, I would recommend experimenting more before writing the category off.
From someone who didn’t like “Champagne” (I’m including all bubblies under that name) because they are mostly too acid, too bubbly or just not interesting, here three that I enjoyed very much, with my TNs:
Nicolas Feuillatte Cuvée Palmes d’Or 1990 (Champagne)
A truly extraordinary champagne–much less bubble, much more wine taste. rich, intense taste. Strong note of fruit, almost like a fruit juice.
RP = 95: “A forward cuvee that will last for another decade. It’s richness is exquisite. This will be a relatively long-lived, intense Champagne.”
Ruinart Rosé Brut (Champagne). A wine for fairies, it floats on your tongue and the taste just insinuates itself into your mouth. As if it weren’t there, but magically appeared. I’ve never had a Champagne that even approached this.
J Vineyards Vintage Brut 2000 Russian River Valley
Very nice champagne, light, smooth, no rough edges. Drinks really well. Not quite up to the Ruinart, however.
I agree with Chuck… it is not possible to classify Champagne and other sparkling wines from other regions, varietals in the same catergory… they are all sooo different. Keep tasting though, Im sure that you will come across a sparkling wine (hopefully champagne) that will suite your palate! There are many out there that are worth your time…
Just to pile on, it is possible you do not like sparkling wine but Champagne is in doubt. I wouldn’t tell anyone that they were getting the Champagne experience with that list.
Try some entry-level grower champagnes before you write off the category. Most can be had for under $50 (usually they hover around $40).
Here are some producers that tend to make crisp champagnes:
Pierre Peters
Gimmonet
Jean Milan
Diebolt-Vallois
Chartogne-Taillet
Larmandier-Bernier
Here are some producers that make lusher champagnes:
Andre Clouet
Camille Saves
Egly-Ouriet
As the previous posts mentioned, you haven’t had too many actual champagnes, which tend to be very different beasts than the majority of the sparklers that you enumerated. Also, you don’t have to go to the grand marques to get good champagne…small growers make NV wines that, IMO, blow the grand marques entry levels out of the water and approach if not surpass the grand marques tete de cuvees.
Ashish, just search Brad Baker’s posts. He has plenty of QPR recommendations. It will give you a chance to see what is good. If you get hooked, then blame him, if you don’t care for them it may not be your gig. Good luck to you! ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers")
Thanks all for the wonderful suggestions. Looks like I have a lot of drinking to do… =)
![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}