Originally Posted by
libove
I flew Club Europe BCN-LHR on 18OCT2023 and was offered the Castellnau 2007 Champagne. As I live in Spain, home of Champagne's commercial competitor "Cava", over the years I've, um, done some .. research, yeah, that's it, research .. into bubblies 😇.
Most Cavas are sold to be consumed within a year to eighteen months of the date when they're put on the shelves for sale, (I'm guessing now) because these average-to-good bottles are not expected to be kept in wine cellars or coolers, that is not in correct sparkling wine aging conditions.
Like under the Champagne commercial controls, Cavas have standard minimum aging labels - white cap is minimum 9 months, green cap minimum 15 months, and black cap minimum 30 months. I've also had 10-year reserve Cavas. (So, put on sale today in 2023, the vintage might be 2012).
So, I was a bit surprised on a flight in 2023 to see "2007" on the Castellnau bottle, which I assume/hope means that it was Vintage 2007, and not just that Castellnau 'cleverly' puts some number on their bottles in hopes of confusing the consumer.
Looking at their website .. I'm still not entirely sure, actually. (Can anyone confirm Castellnau's actual commercial and labelling practices?)
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As for the Castellnau itself, I found it drinkable, particularly as a welcome-on-board glass, though it was served a bit too warm; personally I prefer Brut Nature (zero added sugar) sparklings.
Then I looked up the price of Castellnau Champagnes, and as another poster in this thread observed, it's not cheap stuff (something in the €40 to €80 range - depends on exactly _which_ Castellnau Brut 2007, and I admit I'm not sure I wrote down the whole label). [One of the dangerous pleasures of Spain is that an equal Cava could be had for less than €10 and a truly superior one for less than €20. My support of Spain's red wine economy since my arrival here fifteen years ago has been .. staunch 🥂].
There are threads with 690 thousand posts tut-tutting about how abject the Champagne from the "unless it is expensive it cannot be any good" brigade. When BA has made an effort to get a decent vintage on board, they probably did not notice that the Castelnau which did not have a good reputation had been replaced by a vintage. I think that BA's wine buyers have been canny as the cellars are all overstocked due to the lack ot orders from restaurants and hotels during Covid. They probably got it at a decent price - I was pleasantly surprised. BA in Europe are not offering Champagne from proper bottles where the Methode Champenoise instead of those screw tops so beloved of the "I drank 12 between London and Manchester" afficionados (I say Manchester as its, I think BA's shortest route). I have no idea if they use big or small bottles domestically as I never fly domestic.
More to topic - when do the Menus change in CE? Twice a month or monthly like CW?