Spec me Some Good Champagne

Not tried the Gosset, will see if I can pick up some and give it a whirl this week.

One a friend really rates is Ruinart, but it's like 50EUR for a NV bottle and I didn't think it warranted the price. Prefered the Mercier NV which works out at more than half the price!

Tsarine I gave a bash as well. http://www.tsarine.com/?lang=en meh, was OK & a Charles Heidsieck, again OK but Nothing blow your socks off.

I like to try a different one every now and then, something I've maybe not heard of or something. Defo going to pick up some Gosset if it's in the shops though.
 
Gosset won't be in the supermarkets so you'll need an independant merchant to get it from. If you're looking for a stockist, the agents are McKinley Vintners and they'll be able to tell you who in your area has some.

Ruinart is delicious really, especially the Blanc de Blancs NV (which is £50) which is a fresh, creamy chardonnay. R de Ruinart Brut is their standard (£40ish) and very pleasant but similar to Gosset, the trade up is worthwhile. '83 Dom Ruinart Rosé with a full cooked breakfast is a fond food match memory.

Tsarine has always put me off with their choice of bottle so not tried it :)
 
It put me off and intreguied me at the same time, I know what you meant though! I was trying to decide and thought, what the hell.

I'll look out for the BdB Ruinart, as I'm not sure which I had, most likely the Brut though. I've got a nice Champagne specialist stockist in Switzerland that's about an hour away, but he sends me the monthly wine and champagne list in a high tech excel spreadsheet monthly, some nice stuff there.

I'll Google Docs it a sec, I got it the other day...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjgYANWrFLFVdEY0Y3dpd0NKRVBBNExZME1yX21vZ0E

I haven't got any wine off him, just Champagne, but some of the wine is mindblowingly crazy prices! 110k for the most expensive magnum. Nice.
 
Yup, mag of DRC RC '45, good times.

Great spreadsheet chock full of goodies.

r.e. above, if you found the Comtes 2000 too acidic, my guess is that you've tried it far too early. I would expect it to round out and become a much more enjoyable wine, perhaps at the 10 year mark? Maybe try one from the late 80s / early 90s (e.g. 88 / 90) if they list it in the future to see the evolution and compare.

If you enjoy quality champagnes, how are you with whites? They have some decent white producers to look at. If that is just the merchant's fine wine list they'll probably have some decent options at a slightly easier budget. e.g. the Domaine Leflaive whites, start off with the Bourgogne Blanc or similar and work up to her vineyard specific wines featured on it.
 
White is my choice of wine. I get quite bad heart burn off red, unless it's with a meal. Empty stomach on red or without food causes me pain, but I battle on.

Bourgogne is my favourite at the moment, some of the Bourgogne Aligotés are great as well. I used to be a big fan of Sauv Blanc etc. new world especially in the summer, but here in France the new world is non existant really, and the Sauv is classed as cheap table wine so you get less choice of anything good.
My normal choices would vary between Bourgogne/Aligoté, Chablis/petits, Macon Villages, Sancere. I'm not a wine buff by any means, I just know what I like and make my way through a nice selection. Red I'm USELESS with, no idea about anything, shamefully.

I agree about it laying for longer though, it was probably far too new. The 2000 Cristal I had the other week was really nice and smooth however, but that's a PN and Chardonnay blend, over the comtes which is a full chardonnay, which probably has an effect.
 
I've had the Nyetimber, but I can't for the life of me remember which I'm afraid. I'd probably go for the 06 Classic blend, myself, but that's preference and 06 was supposed to be good for Champagne, unsure if that includes Sussex in that too!

I did have a bottle of this: Chapel Down Pinot Brut Reserve, Kent, England, which was very nice indeed, speaking on English stuff. Also did the "vinyard tour" of Bolney Estate in Sussex and their Blanc de Blanc was really smooth, fresh and nice, shame they produce so few bottles!
 
Nyetimber and similar decent UK sparklers are decent drops. I'd really like to try the 2006 so may well get some in the near future. We're having an English fizz in the afternoon on Sat at my wedding.

I have similar opinions to Quicklink r.e. Moet. I'm not a big fan of their NV as it tastes too harsh. The 02 rose is probably pretty decent although I would probably go NV Taittinger or Bollinger for a little less money on the rose front. Also, they produce >20million bottles a year and spent fortunes on advertising, not something I rush to support.
 
QuickLink said:
I've had the Nyetimber, but I can't for the life of me remember which I'm afraid. I'd probably go for the 06 Classic blend, myself, but that's preference and 06 was supposed to be good for Champagne, unsure if that includes Sussex in that too!

I did have a bottle of this: Chapel Down Pinot Brut Reserve, Kent, England, which was very nice indeed
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I had a bottle of that a few years back and was very impressed with it.
 
Roederer is about the best for 'bang for your buck'. Dom Perignon is great if you can fork out - I had Krug once, but wasn't that impressed, and La Grande Dame was nice but not worth the money imho.

Pol Roger white foil is decent, as is Bollinger and many of the English sparklers are very good - I particularly like the Camel Valley from Cornwall.
 
Just recently had a 1990 Bollinger Grand Année for our Honeymoon, that was lovely. And last year I bought the other half a Canard Duchene Charles VII Silver which sadly is no longer made, and was the nicest bottle of champagne I've ever had.

Veuve Cliquot is the nicest of the readily available brands, in my opinion, by quite some way. I'd personally avoid Moet and Tattinger, of the number I've had I've never been completely satisfied.
 
QuickLink said:
I like to try a different one every now and then, something I've maybe not heard of or something. Defo going to pick up some Gosset if it's in the shops though.
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If you can find it outside of Reims, try and get hold of some Nomine Renard. It is not too pricey and is sold very locally in Reims, but possibly further afield.

My Dad found it years ago whilst travelling through and liked it so much he brought back a car full. He took it to all the main retailers to sell and Waitrose wanted dibs on it but he just could not manage the large order, as well as the producer. This was back in the late eighties but every time he passed nearby he still buys a couple of boxes off the owner.

http://www.champagne-nomine-renard.com/

*edit*

Well it appears you can buy it in the UK anyway, and for some time. Will have to tell the old man.

http://www.whitebridgewines.co.uk/champagne.htm
 
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Cheers Papa, I'll have it a look around these parts and see what I can grab. I am trying to persuade the Mrs we need to do a few days next year in Champagne region to pick up some bottles.

My sister was there recently and had some Alfred Gratien and really rated it, I thought it was OK. A nice alternative if you can find it.

http://www.vinography.com/archives/2009/01/alfred_gratien_champagne_franc.html

Platypus, I've had some Canard Duchene Charles VII but was in a blue case, thing, so assume this wasn't the silver. I thought it was nice though.

Was my mothers birthday at the weekend, so I gave her a bottle of 95 roederer for a special occasion, and we managed to get through 3 bottles of NV. Breakfast Louis is the way to go.
 
I had this one last night.

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It was about 27 euros, so 21/22quid and was really nice actually. Hadn't tried it before but would have it again. Again, for me it isn't as good as Louis, but better than a lot of big brand names. Defo worth a try.
 
wozzizname said:
.......I particularly like the Camel Valley from Cornwall.
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This is great if you can get it. They do a very nice fizzy pink and also red too. Have won several awards along the way too. Very nice and highly recommended.

Also, the house champagne at Majestic is very good too. They have it on offer at my local one for £15 a bottle atm, £20 if you get the vintage one. Is a nice crisp number that is very very drinkable

My favourite one has to be Cristal, but as I have yet to win the lotto, that is reserved for very special occasions.
 
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