Not a big fan of Cristal.

We went with the Perrier-Jouet Belle Epoque Rose and it was delicious ^

^ This is a really good choice, and under your budget!

I mostly drink Krug (heavy yeasty style) but love the Belle Epoque which is the opposite (light, floral and fruity) -- I like to joke that it is the world's most expensive apple juice. Really well made. For a (much) cheaper alternative for everyday drinking you might consider a good Moscato, chances are it will remind you of the P-J.

I would opt for something like a grower's champagne. The "usual suspects" are fine wines, but have prices that are out of whack. You can find some serious juice at the $50 price point and pick up a bunch of them instead of a single bottle of Krug. Here's an idea:

Jose Dhondt Blanc De Blanc
http://www.vestrywines.com/ProdDetail.aspx?id=WSPK0082

I love Champagne Philipponnat Clos des Goisses. Try it if you can get it.

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

I've never been impressed with Dom Perignon when compared to other high end champagnes. I don't think it conpares well to Krug and it isn't in the same class as Clos des Mesnil in my opinion although I think the latter is outside the OPs price range. Another great choice and well within the price range is Pol Roger Winston Churchill Cuvee. Again, I wouldn't hesitate to pick that over Dom Perignon even if the Churchill cost more; which it doesn't.

^

Glad you took my advice!! ^

Pol Roger's Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill is one of our family favourites.... we discovered this last year when we were all out of options for NYE.

Curious about the vintages you've had of DP and whether you've had the opportunity to have any of their "Oenotheque" cuvee. A couple of months ago I had the 1993 DP Oenotheque and it was a monumental effort. I think the newer vintages of DP have a bit too much residual sugar (following the lead of Cristal), but when you get back in the mid-90s and earlier DP routinely creates classic Champagnes.

Here's a good list on which to base your experimenting:

http://www.winejudging.com/medal_winners_2010/100.htm

http://www.winejudging.com/medal_winners_2010/110.htm

I have enjoyed Korbel Natural and Gloria Ferrer

Also, use Bevmo and K&L wines as they are really easy places to search for what you want.

You can easily filter down to the most highly rated and lowest priced items

eg http://www.bevmo.com/Shop/ProductDet...ProductID=5781 is the highest rated under $10

I have it sitting in my wine fridge for the right occasion.

I recommend Louis Bouillot Cremant de Bourgogne Rosé "Perle d'Aurore", available for $12-15 at K&L in LA/SF and a number of other places. It is the only sub-$30 sparkler that I find decent.

At that price, do you even need an occasion?

Fully agree. Last week, Sam's had it, IIRC, for about $7.00 in a fancy box with a "flute" included. Quite drinkable, and works well for "Champagne Cocktails" or other "dress ups" using sparkling wine. Cava also works well as the basis for a bubbly version of "Sangria Blanco"

We've grown to like Sangria is warm weather (and it will be 80F today). After much experimentation (and we use brandy, orange liqueur, simple syrup as needed, a few grapes, lemon peel, sliced apples, peaches or nectarines and oranges, all muddled a bit, then each serving topped with sparkling water/seltzer/club soda), we've found that the cheaper "jug" Lambruscos (There's a cliche' from yesteryear) works quite well, with the natural carbonation adding a bit of effervescence to the traditional silver goblet/julep cup serving.

I'll give a shout out to Chandon's Blanc de Noirs, price varies from $15 - $20 depending on where you look. Great, crisp, clean bubbly.

I'm a huge fan of Alsatian sparkling rose, so I'll give anything in that genre a try.

For local Canadian stuff, Henry of Pelham's Cuvée Catharine Rosé Brut rings in at $30, a bit higher than most recommendations here, but definitely on my "must try" list. Dry, fine bead, delicious. It's so easy to drink and becomes better as you finish your glass.