Cheap champagne

Mr Benevolent

I confess to a liking of the bubbly stuff. Sadly (and not surprisingly) I've found that price is usually directly linked to quality. So far I've tried:

Real champange:
Moet NV (best so far)
H Blin (damned good)

Brut
Jacob's Creek (ok)
M&S Brut (not great)

Is there a reasonable brand that's not too expensive (€20-30) and doesn't taste like grapes dissolved in fizzy acid?

Mr Magnolia

Tesco have a good range. Their own Cava and Prosecco are both superb and under €15. Not so sure about their champagne yet.

I've tried most of the Moet range and for the most part they are decent side.

Elem

Champagne doesn't come cheap, Frenchies up the price when some extra regions and brewers become 'Champagne'.

jdivision

Tesco's vintage champagne has won numerous blind tasting awards and medals ahead of the major label brands. If you like Moet NV then try the vintage stuff, only a few quid extra.

Prosecco is often nicer and significantly cheaper than champagne, it's less agressive so doesn't mess with your stomach as much.

Wantobe

Try 'cremant'. Aldi used to do a nice one, haven't bought it in a while as tend to bulk buy in France so I don't know if they do it anymore- expect to pay about 12 to 15 per bottle ( for what you would pay 4 to 7 in france:( ). It's dry, not too sweet and has the all important bubble factor.

enda1

Elem wrote: »

Champagne doesn't come cheap, Frenchies up the price when some extra regions and brewers become 'Champagne'.

No idea what this means^...

Still think Moet is the best of the regulars. Try their nectar Champagne for a more sweet/less acidic kick. Bit expensive though!

pa990

enda1 wrote: »

No idea what this means^...
!

Champagne comes from the champagne region of France.. if it comes from any other region or country it is called sparking wine

Elem

pa990 wrote: »

Champagne comes from the champagne region of France.. if it comes from any other region or country it is called sparking wine

At least someone understands

oblivious

Its a protected appellation that they are more than happy brining anyone to court over using the name or in some case suggest of the name

Mr Magnolia

Elem wrote: »

Champagne doesn't come cheap, Frenchies up the price when some extra regions and brewers become 'Champagne'.

^This post^ implies [to me] that "extra regions and brewers become 'Champagne'" which is not the case. Your either a wine maker from the champagne region or you're not. It doesn't make sense to me either, maybe I'm missing something or I could be miss-reading your post

enda1

oblivious wrote: »

Its a protected appellation that they are more than happy brining anyone to court over using the name or in some case suggest of the name

Same with all AOC's in France/Italy/wherever else (Feat cheese too in Greece springs to mind). Its only normal that if you call something by a region it should come from there.

Mr Magnolia <- what he said!

oblivious

enda1 wrote: »

Same with all AOC's in France/Italy/wherever else (Feat cheese too in Greece springs to mind). Its only normal that if you call something by a region it should come from there.

Also why Budweiser never could claimed the name

BeerNut

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

^This post^ implies [to me] that "extra regions and brewers become 'Champagne'" which is not the case.

I got that impression from it as well. There have been talks about expanding the borders of the Champagne region due to increased global demand, but I doubt it'll be happening any time soon.

oblivious

BeerNut wrote: »

I got that impression from it as well. There have been talks about expanding the borders of the Champagne region due to increased global demand, but I doubt it'll be happening any time soon.

There is nothing stopping anyone using the méthode champenoise, you may in time see some better product form around there world, although the mane dsoe conjurer up a image for people

BeerNut

Oh yeah, the appellation thing is just a massive gouge and a way of keeping prices artificially high.

I love the Aurelio Zen books by Michael Dibdin. One of them, A Long Finish is a murder mystery set around the border of one of the AOC regions in Piedmont. It explains the whole economics of appellation brilliantly.

blorg

To be honest if you are looking good quality sparkling wine on a budget I would look outside Champagne - Prosecco and Cava in particular as others have suggested. You are likely to get better value for your money; you can get some awful stuff at the bottom end of the AOCs and pay a premium for the appellation.

blorg

BTW, Berry Brothers have three sparkling wines heavily discounted in their summer sale that may well be worth checking out. Note I got an email after saying the sale prices were ex VAT so you may have to add 21%:

Prosecco, Trevisiol Le Figli, Veneto, Italy
16.95 down to 9.50 (44%)

2001 Jansz Vintage Cuvée, Tasmania, Australia
20.95 down to 13.50 (36%)

Berrys' House Blanc de Blancs Champagne, Grand Cru, Le Mesnil
36.95 down to 22.95 (38%)

There are also plenty of other sparkling wines from France- crémant d'Alsace can be very good and affordable.

Elem

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

^This post^ implies [to me] that "extra regions and brewers become 'Champagne'" which is not the case. Your either a wine maker from the champagne region or you're not. It doesn't make sense to me either, maybe I'm missing something or I could be miss-reading your post

I think i was drunk when i posted that. Recently when i was over in France, they had just expanded the borders of the 'Champagne' region, so anyone making sparkling wine in 35 towns around 'Champagne' region can now call there sparkling wine CHAMPAGNE. I think Moet and Chandon had a really big problem with this as they dominate in sales of champagne, due to Moet Brut, Moet Vintage 2000 and Dom Perignon as there best sellers. I think the CEO was quoted saying 'It will lower the premium essence of great champagne'. These small brewers of the new champagne region are increasing there price by almost four times the original price.

So does this mean expensive cheap champagne? Which the French government have kept at bay for so long?

dr.bollocko

Did you know that the defining feature that differs champagne from other wines (its bubbles) was discovered merely by an accidental addition of a different amount of sugar, which resulted in an increase of carbon dioxide and alcohol during the fermenting process. AFAIK, originally, champagne was a non-effervescent wine!
If you are looking for the cheapest champagne bang for your buck it would probably be in O' Brien's off licence. They often run a deal on their Charles Orban so you could pick it up for around 25 squids. They also have a Chatelin as far as I can remember. Much cheaper, but the Orban is definitely the better bottle.
Has anyone ever found a nice sparkling red wine?
Tried a few and was never satisfied.

Elem

There's loads of Rose wine, I had a glass of Dom Perignon Rose at my sister's wedding recently, it was lovely.. And i'm not a wine drinker at all..

oblivious

dr.bollocko wrote: »

Did you know that the defining feature that differs champagne from other wines (its bubbles) was discovered merely by an accidental addition of a different amount of sugar, which resulted in an increase of carbon dioxide and alcohol during the fermenting process. AFAIK, originally, champagne was a non-effervescent wine!.

The méthode champenoise, what make champagne is a method of remove the yeast/lees out of the wine while still keeping the secondary fermentation.

RuailleBuaille

Try Freixenet Cava, 15.99, it's yum. Although you might not think so because you don't like the M&S cava and I love it! Green label one, 11.49 hits the spot of a Friday I tells ya!

oblivious

RuailleBuaille wrote: »

Try Freixenet Cava, 15.99, it's yum. Although you might not think so because you don't like the M&S cava and I love it! Green label one, 11.49 hits the spot of a Friday I tells ya!

This could be something for the wife, thanks

Leax

I love champagne esp Moet and Pieper-Heidsieck. I don't know much about vintage and general differences between bottles within brands but know i have had both of the above (and others) that ranged from grand to gorgeous depending on the bottle/year.

That said I think that Jacob's Creek Sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Noir is just great, it is great value and tastes just lovely. Really smooth and flavoursome without being overly acidic or overly sweet. Really worth a try if you haven't already. I got it for €20 a bottle a few months ago in Superquinn.

Baggio

some good thoughts there folks,

for me the best value for money i come across these days are these:

Charles Orban from Obriens, its a "blanc de noir" which means its made from black grapes only, no chardonnay in the mix, its delicious stuff,, rich and tasty for E24 i think its farrr better value than Moet or Piper Heidsick to be honest.

Ayala Champange from M/S when on special offer of E28 was a heck of a bargain , terrific classic champagne.

Mumm Napa Cuvee Rose - from superquinns and other places too, without doubt my fave Rose of all,,is terrific stuff for E20.00, these folks are an offshoot of the MUMM Champagne house and are set up in USA and even tho I dont usually bother much with USA wines, THIS stuff is just soo damm good great value too.

Sparkling Shiraz from many places that sell wine, is deep dark sparkling shiraz from Australia, its to be chilled like any other sparkler, and is terrific stuff,,veryy diferent, usually around E17 a bottle,

Prosecco from Italy, usually around E13 from many outlets is always nice (to me) as someone said earlier, not harsh on the system nice taste tho.

I think O'Briens have a decent standard champagne all year round, cant think of the name but it's always around E20 , have had it several times, is nice stuff for sure folks

happy popping amigos....Baggio...