Champagne Selection Help

You can find it for as little as $100 (plus shipping), but $115 is a great price. Forget the rest and buy the Salon.

Dimitri

I wouldn't call these "older vintages". 1996 has just been released by some of the better houses and it really is an exceptional year that will reward very long further ageing. I had the chance to taste the 96s of Veuve Clicquot and Pommery last week, also the Clicquot Rosé 1996 which needs at least 5 to 8 years of bottle age.

From your list I'd recommend Perrier Jouët Belle Époque and Veuve Clicquot.

I will do a comprehensive champagne tasting with just about everything available on the Austrian market within the next 14 days. I will report here.

M.

Good evening John,

Since some months, this year, I have been hearing, everywhere, in serious sparkling places - wine-shops, wineries, wine competitions, from wine-merchants, sparkling wine-makers and great experts in bubbles ..., that, at the moment, the Top quality is Bollinger 96 Vintages* ( plural* ) ex.

About Prices, french prices have look here

Best sparkling wishes,

Francis ° o O ° o O ° o O °

"J Derby" a écrit dans le message de news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com...

Francis, would this be a bottle to cellar, or could it be enjoyed now above the others I mentioned, in your estimation? Maybe I need a few bottles?

Not all NV Champagne is drink it Now. One of the best Champagnes is KRUG You can't buy a better cuvee.

"Howie The Hammer" wrote in news:MWZnb.23985 $ snipped-for-privacy@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net:

so how long do you cellar a wine whose age you do not know?????

Its not one of the best...in my opinion Krug is the best. And their NV or MV is better than most or all vintage also.

just my opinion

"Howie The Hammer" a écrit dans le message de news:MWZnb.23985$ snipped-for-privacy@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net...

Yes, you are right, I agree with you.

One of the best Champagnes is Krug, and, or, Salon, and, or, Bollinger, and, or, Roederer, and , or, Selosse, and, or Egly-Ouriet, and, or, Ruinart, and, or, Pol Roger, and, or, Vilmart, and, or, Fleury, and, or Dielbot-Valois, and, or De Sousa, and, or, ... = around 100 better cuvées and producers ( houses and growers). IMHO

I am not sure, but because each people has his own taste, and own palate, I am understanding that, perhaps, probably, there are many different tastes... because the humanity is so complex, there are probably ( ? ) many different tastes and palates. Except if all the people, the humanity, is the same clone ( ? ). I am not sure but, perhaps. Why not ?

Francis

Salon rocks. If the bottle has not sat out too long for sale, go for it. Champagne does not tolerate poor storage. 6 months on a warm store shelf at 72+ is all it takes for heat damage to begin to show.

Bollinger is a great house, but not for everyone. I admire the wines but do not personally care for them. Much age is warranted as well, a good 10 years for a vintage like 1996 or 1990. Someone else mentioned the Vieilles Vignes which is their super-rare and expensive bottling from one of the few pre-phylloxera vineyards left in Europe (phylloxera destroyed most of the French vineyards from the late 1800s until 1945 when Romanee Conti itself had to be uprooted.) The wine is a marvel, but needs an incredible amount of cellar time. I last had the 1989- a more forward vintage- about 3 years ago and felt it needed at least another decade to show its best.

The others on your list strike me as excessively expensive (and the Bollinger is a bit high too I think.)

Some others have mentioned Krug NV, and I agree this is as good as it gets.

You asked about when to drink an NV wine, and the answer is whenever you want. The law prevents champagne houses from releasing NV wines before certain times, so most will have some age when released. But beyond that Krug is meticulous about ensuring their wines ARE mature and ready when released- moreso than the other major houses for sure.

So a Krug NV is good to go when you buy it- though I tend to like to age the Rose a few extra years to let it cream out.

Hope this helps!

Tom.

The Pol Roger 95 Rose is fabulous! I wish that I could get a bottle in Alabama :(

These prices don't seem too out of line, unless you live in a state like CA or NY that gets tons of stuff. I would gladly pay $63 for the aforementioned Pol Roger.