not super cheap, but quality stuff. i'm not a wine/champagne drinker but my gf wants champagne this weekend as it is our 3 yr anniversary. what kinda would tww recommend? prices please if you know them. thx

6/25/2006 1:13:42 PM

hahaha. . .not Andre, unless your GF swills it like a camel. it's only 2.99/3.99 a bottle. however, the strawberry infused Andre is kinda tasty.

6/25/2006 1:34:35 PM

i was thinking maybe a korbel brut? gf's mom has had that and liked it. whatcha think. it's like 10/11 a bottle i think

6/25/2006 1:35:55 PM

i've had that before and it's not bad. for me, it is a matter of how sweet your prefer your champagne.

extra brut is a dry champagne that's not very sweet.
brut is not quite as dry, but still not too sweet.
something like a spumante or asti spumante is very sweet.

i like a dry champagne when i'm going to be drinking enough to get pretty toasty. i like an asti spumante when i'm having a glass or two.

korbel brut is your run of the mill champagne. you won't go wrong with it, if you don't know your gf's preferences or this is your first experimentation with champagne.

[Edited on June 25, 2006 at 1:51 PM. Reason : more]

6/25/2006 1:46:34 PM

You can always get something like Brut or Korbel but cheap champagne sucks. Look at something like Pol Roger NV Brut about $40

6/25/2006 1:51:20 PM

personally, i wouldn't spend $40 on a bottle unless you both know that you like champagne.

and $10 Korbel is not scraping the bottle of the barrel cheap champagne, considering that you can buy something like Andre for 3 bucks. but it's not exactly quality either.

And Brut is just a measure of sugar content. It's not a brand of champagne.

[Edited on June 25, 2006 at 1:56 PM. Reason : edit.]

6/25/2006 1:54:23 PM

^ good info. and Restricted thanks for the advice man but i'm not really looking to spend that much. gf suggested Andre, but i'd rather not so it looks like korbel it will be. and bottombaby what are the levels of sugar content?

6/25/2006 1:57:54 PM

I'm hardly a champagne drinker, but I bought some korbel from the grocery store one time for my girlfriend's birthday.

She didn't like the taste, but it was just a fun thing to do. It was one of those things where she had never had champagne before and appreciated the thought. I was 19 or 20 at the time, so it's not like she expected me to pop open a bottle of cristal.

If your girlfriend has really distinguished tastes in wines and champagnes, I would opt for something in the 50 dollar+ range. If not, get something cheaper and spend the rest of the money on a gift.

6/25/2006 2:00:37 PM

i already have the gifts, and she is fine drinking andre, so i wouldn't really call her a distinguished champagne drinker. bwaghahaha so i think the korbel will be good.

6/25/2006 2:01:49 PM

Brut - less than 1.5 percent sugar
Extra-Sec - 1.2 to 2 percent sugar
Sec - 1.7 to 3.5 percent sugar
Demi-sec - 3.3 to 5 percent sugar (actually, a dessert wine)
Doux -over 5 percent sugar (dessert wine too)

I pulled the actual sugar content from Epicurious.com and now I'm a little confused as to which of the Brut or Extra Brut is sweeter.

Spumante is just an Italian sparkling wine as opposed to a French sparkling wine. The Asti Spumanti is pretty sweet, but I don't know how it stands up to Demi-sec and Doux because I have not had either of those.

Yeah, if she'll drink Andre, she'll drink Korbel. And this might make me sound like I am a little unrefined, but I prefer certain Andre champagne over its costlier counter part. If she's looking to get tipsy/drunk, buy the Korbel and grab a bottle of Andre.

[Edited on June 25, 2006 at 2:08 PM. Reason : asdf.]

6/25/2006 2:06:28 PM

^haha, I don't know why I typed Brut. My ole man would kill me, he is a Moet and Chandon commander or something.

6/25/2006 2:09:48 PM

^^ def. not unrefined. smart and economical. haha

6/25/2006 2:12:51 PM

Something that is kinda tasty for someone who doesn't like champagne so much that we've done at a few dinner parties when unplanned guests showed up wto make the champagne last a little longer was to pull out a bottle of chambord and add a little of it to your champagne.

Alize is something that also goes well with champagne.

6/25/2006 2:16:01 PM

Oh man, if you ever have the money to blow buy some Veuve Cliquot..you can get a cheaper bottle for $25-30ish but oh man. We have 2 bottles of the Brut Yellow Label left over from my dad's retirement party and it's so good.
I don't know what the prices are and for what types - what we boguht was pretty expensive like, I want to say $70-90ish a bottle but I just looked online and they have lots of types for cheaper.

6/25/2006 3:55:40 PM

andre

6/25/2006 4:15:20 PM

If she likes the sweeter taste I suggest these:

Ballatore---it is 5 or 6 bucks. Way better than Andre for only a couple bucks more

My favorite is at total wine. 7.99 or 8.99 a bottle. It is San'Orsola Asti (I think that is how you spell it. Comes in a black bottle with a little bit of read or orange on the label)

My second favorite Asti is Martini and Rossi but it is more like 13 bucks a bottle and not as good. And if you want to make the champagne last longer, mix it with a little orange juice, pineapple juice and some grenadine.

6/25/2006 4:41:05 PM

Chandon Brut

kicks ass.

6/25/2006 4:41:52 PM

already got the korbel brut. i'll let tww know how it goes

6/25/2006 4:53:29 PM

I can be a wine snob, but I liked the Martini de Rossi sparkling wine. I had it this weekend at a wedding and it was surprisingly good.

6/25/2006 5:30:00 PM

Moet & Chandon White Star.

Fuck all that nickel dime shit.

6/25/2006 5:39:42 PM