I have always been a fan of grower Champagne but grower Champagne is not everywhere so in a situation (airport lounge during massive delay) where you need a glass, bottle , magnum of Champagne what are the best of the rest? The list is not long as most of the big house stuff is high-dosaged crapola!Bollinger NV - Powerful and rich with nice pure fruit. In alot of places and always reliable. At the top of my list.
Pommery NV - Elegant and restrained with a lithe-like presence on the palate. Very nice and would not be ashamed to drink this.
Billecart-Salmon NV - Concentrated and finesse with utmost breed and wonderful capacity to age in this NV format.
That's it...I would not drink Feuillatte, Taittinger, Veuve, Louis Roederer and Moet & Chandon unless my life was on the line.
Just curious what other peoples favorite NV's are from the big boys . . . .
Me thinks Charles Heidsieck is pretty decent. Henriot can surprise at times, and let you down other times. Delamotte is okay.
ReplyDeleteNo Krug?
ReplyDeleteJoe,
ReplyDeleteI really don't consider Krug a big production bubbly along the lines of Moet and Louis Roederer. Clos du Mesnil is under 1000 cases I believe.
Levi,
ReplyDeleteDelamotte is just oaky. Light and kind of bores me. But if I was somewhere and it was there . . .I would drink it.
I left Krug off because one never knows, when opening a bottle in this country, to what degree the wine will be showing notes of oxidation. The problem is especially troubling with half bottles. The same can be said for NV Bollinger.
ReplyDelete