Consolidated "Champagne - Questions/Suggestions/Recommendations" thread

most prosecco served in venice is still wine. it is pretty standard as that inexpensive carafe white in inexpensive(for venice) restaurants. i like it a lot. it is also very low in alcohol, so i can drink an extra glass.

I've never thought of it the way you posted it in the OP, but I think I agree with you.
Good point(s).

My sister turned me on to Prosecco a few years back. You can get some really nice bottles for about 50% of the cost of decent champagne!

If you need a drink that's more special, try a Burgundy Grand Cru. That will be rare and expensive even in France.

Not true. I live in Burgundy and do not have any trouble accessing Grand Cru wines at a decent price.

In the words of Mme Lily Bollinger~

" I drink it when I'm happy and when I'm sad.
Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone.
When I have company I consider it obligatory.
I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and I drink it when I am.
Otherwise I never touch it, unless I'm thirsty."

Depends upon what you consider decent. I would wager that you're not getting Grand Crus from top producers in the Cote de Nuits for under $50 a bottle even right out of the domaines. Probably not too many for under $100 a bottle either. If you really know what you're doing, you can get yourself some of the best 1er Cru wines, from vineyards that abut the best Grand Crus, from top producers, for that $50-100 range (Stuff like a Gevery Chambertin Combe aux Moins, Cazetiers, or Lavaux St, Jacques from either of the LeClerc brothers), or some of the Vosne Romanee Vineyards that abut Richebourg or La Tache, like Suchots

Now $100 a bottle right out of the domain for a Grand Cru Burgundy from a top producer is a more than decent price, relative to what folks pay elsewhere for them. But for the vast majority of people, that's still an extremely high price for a bottle of wine.

After spending a Summer in Venice, I opt for prosecco over champagne whenever possible. Actually, toasted with a bottle of prosecco that I brought back when I proposed to my now wife.

And let's not forget the delights of a nice cava...but good Champagne still has a different taste that the others lack. I think I'd describe it as yeasty...but not quite.

Off-topic, snarky, and OMNI/PR-esque posts have been deleted. Please stick to the OP's thread-topic, thanks.

cblaisd
Moderator, Dining Buzz

Nice ^

Well if you are using $'s, then everything from Europe is ridiculously expensive. But I don't consider �30-ish for a Grand Cru to be expensive at all. And yes, that's what I would and have paid for a good Gevrey C. On the other hand, I generally stick closer to Beaune as it is a much shorter drive for me. There are a few "rock star" wines like Romanee-Conti that are ridiculously overpriced. I obviously stay clear of those. But a Romanee St. Vivant can be had at a good price.

And you know there are Grand Cru white's right? Burgundy has the best white wines in the world. While I usually pay relatively little for those, there is one white I once paid about �100 for.

Lastly there is the Hospice de Beaune auction each year, where you can get the VERY best of Burgundy for around �30 or so a bottle. The only problem is you have to wait over a year to get the wine, then 5 more years minimum to open the bottle.

Nope, not sick of champagne now some particular brands I am not especially fond of, but I don't turn my nose up at the proffering of it!

I drink a fair amount of prosecco and cava, especially in summer. There is also a gorgeous pink sparkling from Spain that I bulk buy! I like celebrating the little things on life, and opening a bottle of bubbly with eg Thai take out just makes me smile. So much so I keep my champagne (and prosecco) corks in a huge glass vase fondly known as my 'happy jar'

Regarding Prosecco, Cava and it must be mentioned Cr�mant de Bourgogne, it is usually best to drink whatever is local, the US being the exception to that rule. So when in Spain I drink Cava, in Italy I drink Prosecco or if in Asti of course I drink Spumante.

And here in Burgundy we drink Cr�mant de Bourgogne much more than Champagne. It's much cheaper and just as good as all but the very high end Champagnes. Also, it is a little known fact that most of the grapes used in the top Champagnes actually come from Burgundy. However Cr�mant de Bourgogne isn't exported much, except to Holland for some reason. You won't easily find it in the US.

I was in Strasbourg recently and picked up a box of Cr�mant de Alsace. It's ok, but it tastes quite different as you would expect. I'm not a fan. But some very good Gew�rztraminer can be found in Alsace as well as Pinot Gris.

I find Cr�mant de Bourgogne and Cr�mant de Limoux fairly often in the US...at least, in decent wine/liquor stores in NYC and Chicago.