Finally following up on this and of course breaking my own rules. I drank a fair number of other champagnes along the way, but ended up with 8 in a short period (4 weeks) where I kept this post in mind. I didn’t cover all the ground suggested above but came away with some good comparisons (varietals, age from the same house, prestige vs standard from same house, oxidative vs reductive, grower vs large).
Bollinger brut special cuvée NV( large house, standard offer, oxidative)
Bollinger grand annee 2012 (prestige, oxidative)
Dom perignon 2012. (Prestige, reductive)
Larmandier latitude (BdB)
Hebrart brut rose (rose)
Aubry premier cru brut (value grower; additional varietals)
Drappier carte d’or NV (Pinot heavy)
Drappier Reserve l’oenotheque 2002 (same producer, aged late disgorgement)
My biggest takeaways as a newbie:
- there is way more difference between wines than I expected, although I enjoyed every single wine
- there is tremendous value here. I can’t think of a time I’ve gone 8 for 8 being satisfied with the QpR elsewhere
- I generally prefer reductive and high acid champagnes to others. I have a hard time ranking the Bollinger wines in the same list as I enjoyed them but almost thought of them as a separate category. Heavy and serious by comparison.
- For my palate, the prestige wines (although a great value compared to similar prices still wines) are not worth the jump. My favorites were probably the 2002 Drappier ($100), Larmandier ($50), followed by DP ($180) and hebrart ($50).
Thank you for the input! Champagne and a few other sparkling wines are now a regular part of the rotation.