Krug and Krug
from my early steps down the Champagne road . . .
Egly-Ouriet & Ployez-Jacquemart
Krug and Pierre Péters
Krug and one of Laherte, Vilmart, or Ulysse Collin.
Selosse and Bollinger. Exceptionally hard to leave off cedric bouchard though.
Roederer, because both the domestic and imported line up is solid at all price points, and, Cedric Bouchard, because he made the bubbly I liked the best.
Best, Jim
Vilmart & Krug
Selosse and Pierre Peters. Krug would be next.
Roederer and Krug. Roederer also for domestic sparkling and for their champagne.
I agree with this completely. Roederer has a top end that competes with anyone (and is getting stronger by the year), a mid range that is absolutely on fire right now, both white and rose, and a low end (Champagne and CA) that is miles better than most of the competition. No other producer I know of can hit all the price points and all the sub-types I like. Bouchard is as good as any brand to fill gaps (although the prices have gotten borderline too high). Vilmart and Don Ruinart are worthy also-rans
Jacques Lassaigne and Agraparte(edited for brain fart)
Sadly leaving out Vilmart and Diebolt-Vallois
Taittinger (for the CDC) and Ulysse Collin–Krug a close third.
Vilmart and Marie-Courtin.
Vilmart and Ulysse Collin hard to leave out Selosse as I love the wines but if there can be only two…
Interesting how many big house brands folks chose. I find that Vilmart does something close to big house (Roederer particularly) Champagne style but better and more distinctive. I guess the big houses do have breadth.
Vilmart and Roederer. And Krug. And Pierre Peters. Dom Pérignon and Taittinger. Alright, I can’t play this game.
It’s tough. I wouldn’t want to deny myself Selosse, Savart, Filaine, Agrapart, Suenen…
This is why, whenever the “what’s the one type of wine…” threads come up I say Champagne.
Deutz and Egly
By far the most versatile wine in my cellar. I can find a champagne to serve at least adequately with just about any meal.
My favorite 2 tete de cuvées are Cristal and Les Chetillions so I guess it would be Roederer and Peters.