At slightly over $20, Tissot’s cremant, Jura. Decant a while before serving.
Scharffenberger Brut (California)
That’s some fun stuff. A bit different, but really tasty. 
Wow, what a great thread. Cannot believe all the Rose recos in this price class!
I picked some up at Wine Library in New Jersey. $19 per.
Definitely. And buy it now, who knows how long it will be to the next batch with all the vineyard damage.
I bought some of the Treveri extra brut from Full Pull recently that is quite nice for the money:
"NV Treveri Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs
Treveri Cellars is a Washington gem, launched in 2009 with a broad lineup completely focused on sparkling wines. I love the price points of the lineup, which includes sparkling versions of Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Muller-Thurgau (can you tell that winemaker Juergen Grieb trained in Germany?); Pinot Gris, sparkling Rosé, sparkling Syrah (yes, Syrah). And they make two sparkling Chardonnays, one of which we’re offering today.
With strong reviews from Wine Spectator, Advocate and Enthusiast, and with Treveri being served at state department dinners, this is a winery on the rise. Their Extra-Brut is a Blanc de Blancs, all from Chardonnay, and it’s drier than the regular Brut. In fact, this has to be either zero-dosage or close to it; there’s nary a hint of sugar to be found, and it presents a real alpine character, all white fruit and mineral and nervy acid. Aromatics of plum, pineapple, and fresh baked bread add to the intrigue, and this just kills it in mimosas and bellinis, kir royales and French 75s, and whatever other sparkling-wine-cocktails you’re planning to trot out this summer.
Wine Spectator (Harvey Steiman): “($14); [REVIEW TEXT WITHELD]. 90pts.”
Washington Wine Report (Sean Sullivan): “($14); [REVIEW TEXT WITHELD]. Rating: **** (Excellent).”
I plan on trying as many of the great suggestions as I can source. I had never tried Ferrer’s sparklers and have to say that both the BdB and Brut provide a lot of enjoyment for the $13 price.
Michael, WTSO currently has Philippe Prie NV Brut Tradition for $23 all in, which includes shipping. Just over your target, but for actual champagne it seems to be a good buy. Notes here and on CT seem fairly positive.
+1 on Gruet. That’s very good. But this Cava ($17!) is fabulous:
Castellroig
Cava Brut
Finca Sabaté i Coca
11.5%. 60% Xarel-lo, 20% Macabeu, 20% Parellada.
Beautiful, beautiful clear, clean, focussed and long! Went very well with oysters. An excellent, even superb bubbly. I can’t recommend this more highly. And what QPR!
Depends on what my local market is pushing. Right now, hands down, its the NV Scharfenberger Brut from Mendicino for $13. I’ve bought over a case of this in last couple months. Other “go tos” are frequently… Mumms Brut CA (black label) for around $15 and NV Roederer CA Brut for around $16. But the Scharfenberger is the equal and currently being given away at $13, locally. Sorry, nothing I’ve had from France comes close to these for quality vs price and 70% of my cellar is French.
I have always been amazed at the transformation the California Roederer Estate undergoes after laying down for about 18 months. While retaining some New World character, it gains a yeasty complexity the younger bottles lack. I pick it up when it’s at a good price, and keep enough bottles in rotation that there is always something with about 18-24 months on it.
It is creeping over $20 in my market. Has anyone experimented with a bit of extra bottle age on the Scharffenberger? If so, do the results make it worth devoting cellar space to it?
Intereseting thought. I’ll try it with some NV Roderer and Scharfenberger. I’ve noticed it helps the NV French like the Bolli SC.
Michael,
I’ll be honest - I don’t think you can find a good, dry, fuller bodied sparkler for $20 and below unless you can find some Roederer Estate with a good five years of age on it. You can hit the good and dry points, but the fuller bodied character is hard to find. What you can find are plenty of wines that are good, fruity, full of Pinot Noir and crowd pleasing. Dry is also a relative term and what is fruity and somewhat sweet to me may be very dry to someone else.
Most of the sparklers that are sub-$20 that I would consider dry are going to be Extra Brut or non-Dose European sparklers. They can be tasty and show nice minerality, but many also tend to be austere and somewhat boring. Fruit often isn’t a big part of their expression and they aren’t really crowd pleasers in my book.
On the bright side, since you like Pinot Noir driven bubblies, you should be able to find a number of fruity, easy to enjoy, tasty bubblies. In the under $20 range, I think Pinot Noir driven blancs and Roses lead the pack.
A few I would recommend for a crowd that are fairly easy to find are: Mumm Napa’s Rose, Gloria Ferrer’s Blanc de Noirs, Roederer Estate, Parigot Rose, Lucien Albrecht Rose, and Louis Boillot Rose are all great. Heck, even Chandon’s Blanc de Noirs is a decent wine. The Gloria Ferrer, Mumm Napa, and Chandon are probably the fruitiest, sweetest, and fullest in body with the Roederer Estate the most classical in comparison to Champagne. The Lucien Albrecht, Parigot, and Louis Boillot are all fruity, bright, not overly sweet, and easy to enjoy.
Changing subjects to the question from others on aging Scharffenberger - I wouldn’t. To me, it is best enjoyed young and fresh. Big brother Roederer Estate is the wine to age.
Wow, wasn’t expecting to find someone suggesting this wine! I carry it inside my shop but at wholesale it’s barely below $20.
Great thread! Just going to mention some that haven’t been brought up here yet:
Coté Mas Blanquette de Limoux Ancestrale - Limoux, France (an ANCESTRALE people!)
Varichon & Clerc ‘Privilege’ Blanc de Blancs - Savoie, France (it’s criminal no one mentioned this but if you’re in NJ like I am I hope you’ve discovered this one and maybe forgot to mention it)
Salinia ‘Twenty Five Reasons’ Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc (drinks like a Flemish Ale which is weird but it’s become a top seller inside my shop)
Quattro Mani Franciacorta Brut (with my regular markup this is $20.99!)
Tenuta Pederzana ‘Gibe’ Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro (does a Lambrusco count? It should!)
There’s waaay more I could mention but I’ll leave it here:)
Do you find this varies by batch with Roederer Estate? I feel that sometimes it gets big, maybe a little more than I wanted. However I don’t drink it often enough to be sure if it’s the wine or just me.