The Auswine Forum

The other night I went under the house to dig around for a bottle of bubbles only to find that the cupboard was bare. Disaster!

I'm looking for some recommendations to help restock.

What are your favourite go-to bubbles? Champagne and/or Sparkling, to drink now and/or keep, and at any price point.

Thanks in advance.

Love Arras at any price point really.

Have been impressed at the Clover Hill Vintage Cuvee's for circa $ 35ish are very good

Jansz everyone knows, but try and hunt some Stefano Lubiana Grande Vintage. WOW what a wine

Natalie Fryer has her own label Belle Bonne - well worth seeking out. Tiny production

Dont go past Red fizz either.

Ashton Hills
Primo Joseph
Seppelt Show Reserve

For Aussie stuff, +1 to anything by Arras.
For Champagne, I like Egly-Ouriet, Diebolt-Vallois & Larmandier-Bernier. Good value at the various price-points.
I especially love Salon when someone else is paying.

+1 Egly-Ouriet, had a fantastic bottle last weekend

I am also partial to Billecart-Salmon Rose NV, widely available and pretty damn refined

There are so many great champagnes depending on your price point.

Standard stuff - favourites are Billecart (both Brut and Rose), vintage Veuve is very good, and Ruinart Blanc de Blancs. Diebolt-Vallois is slightly above this category and very good value for money.

Growers - as above Egly-Ouriet is beautiful, but distributors into Australia price-gouge because it has become so sought-after. Slightly less expensive and also excellent is Jerome Prevost. Much better priced grower champagnes that are very good are Vilmart, Pierre Peters, Franck Bonville and in particular, Andre Clouet.

Favourite premium champagnes are Dom Perignon, Cristal, Krug vintage and of course Salon. However I would not say I would necessarily prefer these all the time over very good full bodied grower champagnes, which usually provide fabulous wines at very reasonable prices - access to supply is the issue with these wines.

As for Australian sparkling, I don't know many but Henschke's Johanne Ida Selma Blanc de Noir is excellent, while Sittella in the Swan Valley make very creditable sparkling at very very reasonable prices.

WAwineguy wrote: Growers - as above Egly-Ouriet is beautiful, but distributors into Australia price-gouge because it has become so sought-after. Slightly less expensive and also excellent is Jerome Prevost..

Funny, I have got my hands on Egly-Ouriet cheaper than Jerome Prevost in general.

winetastic wrote:

WAwineguy wrote: Growers - as above Egly-Ouriet is beautiful, but distributors into Australia price-gouge because it has become so sought-after. Slightly less expensive and also excellent is Jerome Prevost..

Funny, I have got my hands on Egly-Ouriet cheaper than Jerome Prevost in general.

Yes, it may depend on which one - Egly makes quite a range and most of them are pretty expensive (particularly the vintage), but the entry level is probably around the same price as Jerome Prevost. But Prevost generally makes only one wine, based almost exclusively on Pinot Meunier. Prevost also has tiny production, which makes it hard to obtain.

Jura Cremant is still relatively cheap..
Champagnes based on Pinot Meunier I think end up being pretty good value because they can show fairly well with less time on lees..which means they're cheaper...
Lanson is also pretty good..no malo...I actually think these are some of the best value Champagnes out there...if you like the style...

My issue with AU Sparkling is that most of it is bad...and the good ones are expensive..as expensive or nearly as expensive as very very good alternatives....The only advantage it has is they're generally easier to get.

Polymer wrote:Jura Cremant is still relatively cheap..
Champagnes based on Pinot Meunier I think end up being pretty good value because they can show fairly well with less time on lees..which means they're cheaper...
Lanson is also pretty good..no malo...I actually think these are some of the best value Champagnes out there...if you like the style...

My issue with AU Sparkling is that most of it is bad...and the good ones are expensive..as expensive or nearly as expensive as very very good alternatives....The only advantage it has is they're generally easier to get.

This.

Cheap Champagne is often too sweet for my taste, but plenty of AU/NZ sparkling is just too simple and/or sweet too so it comes down to the price you're looking to buy at. I'd rather have a cheap sweetish Champagne than a cheap sweetish AU Sparkling, the acid feel just seems better.

Some of the Jura or Loire Cremants are more to my taste for drier and earthy styles, complexity is a personal thing, i think texture and dosage is the key to finding something you agree with.

And different vintages play a role too, so it''s hard to be definitive. Some of the cult producers can be a bit much 'bruised apple' for me too.

Not a fan of Arras in general, other than some of the Grand Vintage Vintages and the E.J Late Disgorged which is excellent but has stiff competition at it's price point.

Must say at any price point I'm not really a fan of Rose either, but that's just me... Won't say no to a Dom Rose 96... but value so often lacking.

Other than Cremants I mentioned above, you said any price point so here I go... I'm sure I'll forget a few...

Ideal World - Salon/Cristal/Krug/Egly-O/DomP/Bouchard RdJ/Agrapart/Comtes

Back to Reality - Charles Heidsieck/Pierre Peters/Larmandier-B/Tarlant/Ruinart BdB, Arras E.J.Carr Late Disgorged.

Big names if none of above available at a fair price... Bollinger / Lanson Vintage / Pol Roger Vintage

Backup options... Veuve, Mumm, Clover Hill, Quartz Reef, Arras Grand Vintage... A tasty Sour Beer often wins here.


Cheers
Tim

At the moment (all eclectic and budget friendly)
- Francois Pinon Vouvray Brut, more appley than champers, but gains lovely complexity with cellaring.
- Château de Minière, Bulles de Minière. Sparkling Cab Franc with enough grip / dryness to be a wonderful picnic wine.
- Just about any Moscato d'Asti if looking for a dessert wine or energising aperitivo wine
- Real lambrusco (current one is from the large Medici Ermete operation, a little softer than the style I prefer, but still a proper Lambrusco and not sugar water)

Taittinger Comtes BdB.... daylight... DP, Peters Chetillons, Vilmart Couer de Cuvée, Dom Ruinart. I’d gladly drink any of them over Krug or Salon.

I also had 2008 Barons de Rothschild at a wine dinner this week - it was excellent!

Polymer wrote:Jura Cremant is still relatively cheap..
.....
Lanson is also pretty good..no malo...I actually think these are some of the best value Champagnes out there...if you like the style...

Indeed - Jura cremant's can offer a top value, with Aldi's example being a favourite of the wine pages forum in the UK

Lanson is popular for burying in the cellar, as that no malo can be a bit shocking to some palates, but age does soften it.

According to Tom Stevenson the Lanson Black Label can develop vintage character with age and having conducted the experiment I quite agree. His suggestion, if I recall correctly, was to keep them for five years or more past disgorgement.

I have to say though, I thought I read somewhere that Lanson might be tampering with their no malo regimen and if that is the case it might make them friendlier to drink earlier on.

Mahmoud.

Didn’t you stock up on English fizz, during your recent visit, Travis?!

Mahmoud Ali wrote: I have to say though, I thought I read somewhere that Lanson might be tampering with their no malo regimen and if that is the case it might make them friendlier to drink earlier on.
Mahmoud.

That would add more appeal to the brand. I found their vintage versions more acidic than the NV. The 1996 was so acidic I remember contemplating whether to pour it into my pool to up the acid level.

I hope they don't mess w/ Malo...it would make it friendlier to drink but that just puts them in a pool of of Champagne that will be very similar...

Sorry for the late reply and many, many thanks for all of your suggestions and advice.
We've been slowly acting on this thread and are putting together a more balanced looking drinking pile.
Cheers, Travis

Polymer wrote:I hope they don't mess w/ Malo...it would make it friendlier to drink but that just puts them in a pool of of Champagne that will be very similar...

A lot of producers told me that Malo will be used less frequently if temperatures keep rising.... riper grapes and less acidity being the potential byproduct

Mike Hawkins wrote:

Polymer wrote:I hope they don't mess w/ Malo...it would make it friendlier to drink but that just puts them in a pool of of Champagne that will be very similar...

A lot of producers told me that Malo will be used less frequently if temperatures keep rising.... riper grapes and less acidity being the potential byproduct

I don't doubt there will be shifts based on climate...but it does fundamentally change the wine itself...it'll be interesting to see how they adjust...