Originally Posted by
FMH1964
...For a straigh non-vintage champagne, my most recent pleasant memory was of Piper-Heidsieck. According to critics, Charles Heidsieck has made a big jump in quality over the last few years. Again one that I must try. ...
Chares Heidsieck has greatly improved in the past 5 years; it is considerably better than Piper-Heidsieck, drunk side by side (but not at a tasting). The two companies are unrelated now, as are the wines (the names stem from being the same company a century ago). Piper makes a good California brut, btw.
Obviously you like the full, rich, heavy champagne style (which is traditional, but steadily going out of favour in the past 50 years). PJ Belle Epoque is maybe the epitomy of the opposite style (light, scented, floral); I like to call it the world's finest apple juice (it is a good champagne, and worth buying in its own right, but smells more of apples than grapes).
Krug is served by several airlines in F (despite its price of about USD 150 a bottle now). SQ offers a Dom/Krug tasting (both are often available); Krug regularly wins. BA used to serve a dozen different noteworthy champagnes on the Concorde (and in the Concorde Room on the ground); their staple was the Bolly Sir Winston, often augmented with something better (rarer). Sadly the Concorde cellar was liquidated (mostly sold off) after the Concorde was grounded (the wines were in insufficient quantity to add to the F service).