N/V G.H. Mumm Brut Rose

This retails for $62. I paid substantially less due to a post-Valentine's Day sale...I guess the local store though a ton of people who be springing for the $60 Mumm Brut Rose instead of the $15 Mumm Napa Brut Rose.

A bit of peach, some strawberry, and a touch of vanilla on the nose.

A bit of pink grapefruit, some nectarine, a nice burst of toast...kinda like a piece of very light rye toast with some sort of grapefruit marmalade. Crisp, dry, and fairly full bodied on the palate.

The grapefruit quality lingers for some time.

Certainly quite good, especially for a a grapefruit fan, but I can't get behind recommending it at the price.

Score: 89

N/V Perrier-Jouet Grand Brut

Around New Year's, a whole mess of big name Champagnes went on deep discount at a local shop, so I stocked up, here's yet another one.

I get sort of a dried apricot thing on the nose - some apple as well and pear, both dried and fresh.

More pear on the palate, along with golden apple - a tad sweet honestly.

Strong red apple on the finish along with some mild vanilla, tangerine, and kiwi and even a cotton candy thing. It's not quite as sweet as I may be suggesting, but it's definitely not dry.

You know, I've had the $100 Fleur and wasn't blown away - this $35 also doesn't blow me away, but at least the price is at least somewhat reasonable. For an entry level Champagne with a bit of a sweet side, this is decent, but not enough to run out for.

Score: 87

2002 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin

I was nutso over the 1996 of this so I snagged this bottle which currently retails at seventy bucks.

Very distinct yeast, orange marmalade, toast,

More yeast, toast, blueberry, orange, caraway, kiwi, all with a nuttiness, I'm going to go with pecan - complex and then some.

Strawberry seed, rye toast, grapefruit, even some cantaloupe way at the back end.

Damn good. Some reviews are short because the wines are dull, others are short because I just want to sit and enjoy the wine - this is the latter.

Score: 94

N/V Louis Roederer Brut Premier

Shop around some good sales and you can snag this one for under $35 - I'm shocked to see we haven't had a Roederer Champagne yet (though the Roederer Estate from CA is damn fine).

A bit of grapefruit, a bit of blueberry, and a bit of rye toast on the nose.

More grapefruit, green apple, white cherry, lime, slate, a bit viscous on the mouthfeel, a quality a normally don't care for, but sometimes it work - here it does.

Lime lingers on the finish along with some ginger ale qualities.

One of the better non vintage Champagnes I've encountered and at the pricepoint - as low as thirty bucks - this is absolutely worth a look.

Score: 91

N/V Moet and Chandon Impeial

Imperial doesn't get much respect (it used to be called White Star), but neither does Veuve Yellow and I dig that stuff - this can be had for anywhere between $30 and $35ish.

The nose is kind of interesting as it seems to show shortbread and even some peanut qualities.

In one word, I'd call this boring. There are some bready and yeasty notes, some orange pith, but really, not a whole lot. Too sweet to be brut, certainly not sweet enough for dessert - the sorta wine I'd recommend with Thai or Indian food, but too expensive for randomly pairing (unless received as a gift).

A bit of a grapefruit with a bit of sugar on top thing on the finish, maybe some tangerine - the finish is far more interesting and flavorful than the palate.

You know, even if this was half price I wouldn't recommend it, it's certainly not an unpleasant wine, but it's just completely uninteresting and for this pricepoint, that is inexcusable.

Score: 78

N/V Duval-Leroy Brut Champagne

Grabbed this on sale - a local shop had a big Champagne sale, for the holiday I suppose, so I snagged a few bottles.

The nose on this is all blueberry jelly spread on white bread toast. Nice.

A bit doughy, not toasty, not quite bready, a little bit nutty, mostly like the raw dough you get in this exploding cans to make biscuits. Other qualities of interest are peach skin, pink Sweet Tarts, candied orange peel, and a bit of citron. (Now that the weather has cooled down, let me just take this moment to strongly recommend citron tea - find your local Asian market and grab a jar, it's good stuff.)

Some blueberry on the finish along with more of that yeasty sorta thing with the nuttiness coming through even further.

A worthy entry level Champagne. At $30, I have no complaints.

Score: 90

N/V Henry-Detaly Champagne

This was nineteen bucks at Trader Joe's - an authentic Champagne for under twenty bucks? How could I not buy one?

Vanilla, caramel, and pear on the nose.

Caramel and orange - an odd sounding combination, but since it's not, you know, really orange and caramel, it works. I'd call this more than a bit sweet - certainly more of an extra dry. A tad yeasty, a bit of red apple, and a bit of a tangerine thing. Not bad.

Definite residual sweetness on the finish with some toasty qualities perhaps slathered with some marmalade.

While it's a fairly tasty wine and one of the cheaper Champagnes out there, you can do much better outside of the Champagne region - be it other parts of France, Spain, California, or - yep - Michigan.

Score: 85

Veuve Clicquot Tasting – Binny's Schaumburg – 12/4/09

I'm at Binny's the other day and see a sign for a free Champagne tasting....”oh geez, that's gonna suck,” I think. Cheapskates pushing and shoving to try fancy wine – and then the people other than Fran! I digress. We decide it's worth it considering the retail price of the six bottles being tasted was over $500.

N/V Yellow Label Brut
Snobs turn their nose at this one – and I know it's definitely not Brut – but I like this bottle. Honey, toast, blueberry, apples, citrus...you know, this and that.

N/VDemi-Sec
So peculiar – distinctly sugary but not excessively sweet. Almost like a Brut Champagne with a dash of simple syrup. Toast, strawberry, excellent acidic structure make for an absurdly good wine I could see going with dinner or dessert.

2002 Vintage Brut
A whole bottle of this is in order to full review. Immensely complex – rye toast, boysenberry, cherry – each sip brought something different.

2002 Brut Rose
I dig Roses, but this one was shockingly blah. Dry, toasty, but not a whole lot going on besides – curiously – a grapey quality.

N/V Brut Rose
More like – toast and strawberry, much bigger, less finesse I suppose, but this one would be a crowdpleaser I'm sure.

1998 La Grande Dame
HUGE. Shockingly huge. Seriously. The nose is dominated by caramel and raisin. The palate? Petrol, caraway, raspberry leaf, grapeseed – more I'm sure but I put the book away and just reveled in the deliciousness. Outstanding.

Half assed notes, but the pours were (understandably) small. Unlike some tastings, all the folks pouring were extremely knowledgeable and friendly in a classy kinda way. Like when you go to a four star restaurant and the waiter totally knows your suit is from Target but he pretends he doesn't notice because if he did he'd be a dick and wouldn't be working there.

N/V Bruno Paillard Premiere Cuvee

Alright, in my post on bargain I mentioned snagging a $65 bottle of Champagne for $35 at an "end of bin" sale. Here we are.

Like a piece of toast slathered with some sort of pear preserves.

Big toast - loads of pear, tart green apple - plus a ton of acid, almost in a lactic acid sorta way. There's a distinct lemon thing and even, dare I say, a tad of sugar. It all leaves the mouth watering big time - alone I'm not convinced but give me a dozen oysters and I'd probably be in heaven.

Almost a dash of cinnamon seems to come through on the finish with pear notes lingering for a while.

There's nothing to complain about here - as a sparkling wine it's excellent, but there's plenty of entry level Champagnes for less than even the discounted price that are worth your while. This is very good to be sure, but I'm not punched in the face and at $35 (and especially at $65) I want my nose to be bleeding.

Wine: 7.5
Value: Nah

1995 Charles Heidsieck Millesime Brut

This was a stupidly priced bottle we bought to celebrate five years of marriage.

Some green apple as well as some interesting raspberry notes on the nose.

Apples dominate but there's plenty going on below the surface. Tangerine, orange zest, and a bit of toast. The thing about vintage Champagne, and remember this, is it should not be consumed as cold as cheaper stuff. The first few sips of this, when it was too cold, struck me as dull and uninteresting. After letting it warm up a bit, to more of a "cool" temperature, a lot of interesting things come through - gooseberry, blueberry, rye toast (so, caraway), and even a bit of mint.

Mostly berry and toast on the finish - rye toast with blueberry jam?

It's good, great in fact, but I'm not floored by it. If you can afford such things on a daily basis, then whatever, but for a special occasion? I'm looking for a 10.

Wine: 9
Value: Irrelevant

N/V Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut Champagne

We had this one around two and half a years ago and dug it – a lot of wine snobs go out of their way to talk trash this bottle, so I was curious to see how our palates changed. I snagged a bottle when I saw it on sale for $35 which is a pretty good price for this particular label.

Orange and honey on the nose.

Some nice toasty notes, orange marmalade, a bit of yeast, and quite a bit of a peachy things going on. While this is sweeter than I care for (and I have no clue how this qualifies as Brut), there's something to be said about the balance – lots of acid brings it together.

Some toasty notes come through on the finish.

This is pretty damn good, but is it $35 (or $50 as some places charge) good? There's great balance and nice toasty qualities that you really only see in real Champagnes, but overall somewhat simple. It's not bad – not in the least – but I can't recommend it for more than, I don't know - $25.

Wine: 7.5
Value: No

N/V Kirkland Signature Brut Champagne

Whenever we go out and order Champagne, we're always asked “oh what's the occasion?” I even get asked this when buying it at the shop from time to time. Normally, there is nothing going on, we just enjoy sparkling wine, but today we're celebrating. It's been thirteen long years that I've been waiting, but at long last Chinese Democracy has come. I searched around for a wine from China but the only thing that I could seem to find was rice based, and I am not a fan of rice wine.

Toast, berries, and lemon peel.

Lemon pledge with some nice blueberry notes and some yeastiness. Other than that, this is pretty simple.

More berries on the finish – I'm thinking more strawberry – and more lemon qualities.

You know, I have to say that this is a bit disappointing. At $26 I have some expectations of complexity and while there's some depth it's certainly not interesting enough for me to get excited. Spend $10 more and get the Kirkland Brut Rose, or spend $10 less and get some Gloria Ferrer.

Wine: 6
QPR: 6

N/V Kirkland Brut Rose Champagne

Election night calls for Champagne – really, any night calls for Champagne, but I'd call this a special enough occasion for a $35 bottle. This is a Costco brand legitimate Champagne which Wine Spectator apparently rated at 90 points by Wine Spectator.

The nose has red apple, yeast, a bit of wax, like unscented candle wax, as well.

Ah geez – I went in cautiously optimistic but this is outstanding. Tart and bone dry, loads of toast, quite a bit of yeast, bread crust, strawberry, stone fruit - nectarine, red apple, watermelon even.

A fuzzy peachy sort of finish with loads of apple and some spicy notes....strawberry – maybe strawberry seeds – that is to say a bit of strawberry but also a somewhat earthy berrylike flavor, and a bit of unripe honeydew melon..

I'm going to go out on a limb and call this wine, which costs $35, a 10 at QPR – very few, if any, Brut Rose Champagnes are available at this pricepoint and this is solid.

Wine: 9
QPR: 10

N/V Krug Brut Grand Cuvee

Alright dude – Krug. Whoa! Big time. Here at The Wineauxs when good news hits – like that of a new job - we celebrate in style – for example, this (half) bottle.

Alright – pop this, pour it, and wait 30 minutes. It opens beautifully but I was severely let down at first pour with how tight it was. Orange rind, not quite ripe peach, and some great yeast on the nose.

It's rare that I'd say this, but this is just about flawless. Apricots, nuts, peaches, red apples, green apples, bread dough, coffee, pears – I can probably sit here and rattle off five different things I get with each sip. I won't bother, I'd rather sit back and enjoy it then type about it.

The finish lingers an extended period and is that asphalt I'm getting in the distance? I think it is.

Absurdly priced but goddamn if it ain't absurdly good.

Wine: 10
QPR: N/A

N/V Pommery Pop Extra Dry Champagne

The regular price here is around $40, but I grabbed it as it was marked down to $21.99 – a solid price for any real Champagne

Some toast, yeast, and even a bit of 7-Up on the nose.

A bit yeasty, some nice doughy notes, along with some citrus notes – lime zest mostly – just a slight bit of nuttiness too. There's some sweetness but everything really blends together nicely.

For $22 you might find a more interesting domestic sparkler but you'd be hard pressed to find another Champagne. It's not bad, in fact it's rather good, but when we're talking full pricepoint, I just can't say this is something I'd consider buying again.

1996 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Vintage Reserve Brut

I had a hankering for a quality Champagne and figured I'd grab this – not cheap, $28 for a half bottle, but it's important to splurge every so often...that's what I keep telling myself anyway.

An interesting nose – gooseberry, vanilla, jasmine, rye toast, chocolate,

Few wines warrant words like “exciting” but to me this qualifies – strong minerals, lots of toast, strange floral and tea notes, chamomile, almond, walnut, raspberry, crisp apple, tangelo, and pomelo.

The yeast, toast, grapefruit, and chamomile tea notes linger on the finish.

At nearly $30 for a half bottle, I'd call it a bargain. This is phenomenal and among the best Champagnes we've had – at a relatively reasonable price, you can't go wrong.

N/V Laurent Perrier Brut Rose

For New Year's I figured I'd grab something different – a brut rose Champagne. This one goes for about $60.

Bread and apple on the nose.

Toast, yeast, strawberry, some nuttiness, and crisp red apple on the palate. The bubbles last for a long time in the class – considering we're used to lower end stuff, it's impressive seeing a stream 45 minutes after pouring.

Poached pear comes through on the finish and lingers for quite some time.

Not bad, but little wow factor. Enjoyable, but for $60 I was hoping for a little more.

N/V Jeanmaire Champagne Cuvée Brut

This real Champagne was at Trader Joe's for either $18.99 or $19.99 – I figured it would be worth a shot.

I don't get a lot on the nose – maybe some key lime.

Yeast, lime, slate, lime, and even some mandarin orange on the palate. Nice crisp acid, just the slightest bit of sweetness, but not enough to complain about. This is a solid bottle.

A sugary feeling is left on the finish, but some citric acid – lime mainly - linger.

This is, I believe, the cheapest actual “Champagne” I've seen in recent months. It's one I'll buy again cheerfully – nice balance and quite a bit going on. Positively unbeatable at the price. It's not exceedingly deep or anything along those lines, but it's overall quite nice and enjoyable. For the price, I cannot complain.

N/V G. H. Mumm & Cie Champagne Carte Classique

I encountered this for $25 at the grocery store and figured I'd give it a shot having a vague positive memory of the Cordon Rouge we had in January 2007.

A little bit of nuttiness on the nose.

Yeast, a bit of toast, some nuttiness – though I couldn't say which - and red apple – somewhat sweet actually. Not much else really. This went flat unusually quickly – the glass died in less than an hour and the bottle's bubbles faded within two.

Some yeast lingers I suppose but there's virtually no finish.

Disappointing. I know this is a low end Champagne, but $25 is still a lot for the average person to drop on a bottle. I won't be rushing back. There's nothing wrong with this – it's just sort of like George Bush's memoirs – good....good, not great.

N/V Piper-Heidsieck Brut Champagne

I left it for Fran to decide – go out to eat or cook at home but grab a couple bottles of Champagne. This won and it was on sale for $24.

A doughy and yeasty nose.

Good stuff – toasty, yeasty, crisp acid, and pretty much the only thing I'm getting is lemon and maybe, just maybe, green apple.

The finish brings some lime and slate.

Not bad, but I'm not about to rant and rave about it – it's solid and about right for the price.