Champagne, Cava, Prosecco or something else?

Sandra Piddock

Sandra Piddock

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When it comes to sparkling wine, do you go with the classic Champagne, or do you have another preference? Since I've spent such a lot of time in Spain, I've become a real fan of Cava. I find it much more refreshing than Champagne - which I feel is very over rated. What about you? Or do you not like sparkling wine at all?
 
I am not fussy about whether it is champagne, cava or even sparkling wine. BUT, it must be good!! I admit I am now a fizz snob. Cheap champagne is one of the worst drinks on the planet. On the other hand, good champagne is one of the best. It is not over rated. Good cava is excellent but is not necessarily competitively priced in the UK.

I use to dislike anything fizzy but was then introduced to good champagne and life has never been the same since. Unfortunately this is an expensive habit!

One of my best best ever weekends was spent in Reims, courtesy of an up and coming champagne house where we were treated to 2 lunches with champagne, pre-dinner drinks and a 4/5 course meal in a michelin starred private dining room with a different champagne at each course. But i was in desperate need of just one tiny glass of red wine with the main course - it was never served!!!

(p.s. i am in the wine trade.)
 
Fraid the only alcoholic stuff that touches my lips is at a certain times of the year, not counting the 1 bottle of beer a month; whisky if I have a cold - usually in a hot toddy. But for our wedding anniversary or for a special birthday (such as one coming up ending in a zero) we will have a champagne that we were first introduced to on our wedding day when we walked into a deli/wine merchant in Penrith, announced we had just gotten married and gotten rid of all our guests after a no-alcohol reception and were looking for something special to celebrate with. (All guests had to drive home minimum of 2 hours and I do not agree with drink driving - it also made the reception cheaper, since we were only 2 years out of undergraduate uni and I was on a post grad course and we did not have much finance - entire wedding/reception and honeymoon was less £1,000.)

Anyhow, we were introduced to Perrier Jouët Belle Epoque by a very kind and elderly gentlemen in the shop who went to great lengths to explain champagne to us along with vintages and the likes and we came out with a 1992 bottle. It now retails at around £85 per bottle and it is something we only have once a year, but we have kept each and every bottle and presentation case (where it came with on); the bottles are too nice to throw away and I can tell you which bottle applies to each year! We still have last years magnum to get through this year (!) - magnum because it was our 15th anniversary and because we were cycling around the world, it was purchased in advance, so we would have something to celebrate with when we got home (working on the grounds we would be flat broke when we got home).

champ_per2004v3.jpg
 
Shadow said:
I am not fussy about whether it is champagne, cava or even sparkling wine. BUT, it must be good!! I admit I am now a fizz snob. Cheap champagne is one of the worst drinks on the planet. On the other hand, good champagne is one of the best. It is not over rated. Good cava is excellent but is not necessarily competitively priced in the UK.
(p.s. i am in the wine trade.)
Click to expand...

You're right about the price. To take one example, LIDL do a cava called Aristel in both the UK and Spain. In Spain, it works out at the equivalent of around £1.30 a bottle - in the UK it's £5! Freixenet is pretty good, and at the moment, Waitrose have a half price offer on cases - £6.99 a bottle for Excelencia Vintage until 4th December.

We always bring enough over to last while we're in the UK!
 
Sandra Piddock said:
You're right about the price. To take one example, LIDL do a cava called Aristel in both the UK and Spain. In Spain, it works out at the equivalent of around £1.30 a bottle - in the UK it's £5! !
Click to expand...

Mostly due to the greedy HM Treasury putting vast amounts of what they call Duty on booze. It is a tax and then VAT is added on too, so there is tax levied on a tax!
 
Sandra Piddock said:
When it comes to sparkling wine, do you go with the classic Champagne, or do you have another preference? Since I've spent such a lot of time in Spain, I've become a real fan of Cava. I find it much more refreshing than Champagne - which I feel is very over rated. What about you? Or do you not like sparkling wine at all?
Click to expand...

We have discovered Cava and I never thought I would say this but the COOP do a really nice bottle, there own brand, reasonable price but tastes better than some branded ones I have tried, although I do have a soft spot for Freixenet
 
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