So, after our Champagne dinner the other night I ran across a sentence
(somewhere) where someone cited Pol Roger as a "heavier" style of
Champagne. That didn't jibe with my (limited) experience. So off and
on I've been thinking about Champagne houses and where they fall on
the spectrum of styles.

Obviously there can be no definitive answer. How do you define style?
Not every house has a consistent style, some may vary a lot by vintage
(or combination of vintages in a NV). The tete de cuvee is of course
generally always "bigger" than the NV or normal vintage bottling, but
in most cases I think there is some correlation inside a house. I
threw together a list, based on impressions I've had tasting and of
course conversations. Of course, my impressions are not based on any
scientific sample, maybe for one house I've mostly tasted the BdB,
while at another I've had mostly NV rose and Tete de Cuvee. But I
still thought I'd throw out my list, and see what people with more
experience of a particular house things. I didn't list every house
(only a couple tries of couple of the Heidsiecks, or Salon) nor
growers.

So here's my list, from lightest to heaviest style.

Laurent Perrier
Pommery
Perrier Jouet
Taittinger
Pol Roger
Billecart Salmon
Jacquesson
Lanson
Deutz
Piper Heidsieck
Moet and Chandon
Roederer
Veuve Cliquot
Krug
Bollinger

Feel free to tell me I'm totally wrong!

In article
>,
DaleW > wrote:

> So, after our Champagne dinner the other night I ran across a sentence
> (somewhere) where someone cited Pol Roger as a "heavier" style of
> Champagne. That didn't jibe with my (limited) experience. So off and
> on I've been thinking about Champagne houses and where they fall on
> the spectrum of styles.
>
> Obviously there can be no definitive answer. How do you define style?
> Not every house has a consistent style, some may vary a lot by vintage
> (or combination of vintages in a NV). The tete de cuvee is of course
> generally always "bigger" than the NV or normal vintage bottling, but
> in most cases I think there is some correlation inside a house. I
> threw together a list, based on impressions I've had tasting and of
> course conversations. Of course, my impressions are not based on any
> scientific sample, maybe for one house I've mostly tasted the BdB,
> while at another I've had mostly NV rose and Tete de Cuvee. But I
> still thought I'd throw out my list, and see what people with more
> experience of a particular house things. I didn't list every house
> (only a couple tries of couple of the Heidsiecks, or Salon) nor
> growers.
>
> So here's my list, from lightest to heaviest style.
>
> Laurent Perrier
> Pommery
> Perrier Jouet
> Taittinger
> Pol Roger
> Billecart Salmon
> Jacquesson
> Lanson
> Deutz
> Piper Heidsieck
> Moet and Chandon
> Roederer
> Veuve Cliquot
> Krug
> Bollinger
>
> Feel free to tell me I'm totally wrong!

I would put Billecart Salmon a little further down and for my tastes
Krug is the heaviest to me.

On Aug 28, 2:20 pm, DaleW > wrote:
> So, after our Champagne dinner the other night I ran across a sentence
> (somewhere) where someone cited Pol Roger as a "heavier" style of
> Champagne. That didn't jibe with my (limited) experience. So off and
> on I've been thinking about Champagne houses and where they fall on
> the spectrum of styles.
>
> Obviously there can be no definitive answer. How do you define style?
> Not every house has a consistent style, some may vary a lot by vintage
> (or combination of vintages in a NV). The tete de cuvee is of course
> generally always "bigger" than the NV or normal vintage bottling, but
> in most cases I think there is some correlation inside a house. I
> threw together a list, based on impressions I've had tasting and of
> course conversations. Of course, my impressions are not based on any
> scientific sample, maybe for one house I've mostly tasted the BdB,
> while at another I've had mostly NV rose and Tete de Cuvee. But I
> still thought I'd throw out my list, and see what people with more
> experience of a particular house things. I didn't list every house
> (only a couple tries of couple of the Heidsiecks, or Salon) nor
> growers.
>
> So here's my list, from lightest to heaviest style.
>
> Laurent Perrier
> Pommery
> Perrier Jouet
> Taittinger
> Pol Roger
> Billecart Salmon
> Jacquesson
> Lanson
> Deutz
> Piper Heidsieck
> Moet and Chandon
> Roederer
> Veuve Cliquot
> Krug
> Bollinger
>
> Feel free to tell me I'm totally wrong!

My crusade the last few years has been to turn people on to RM
Champagnes. "RM" means Recoltant Manipulant. These are small growers
who buy no grapes or juice. Only estate grapes. The wines have more
character and personality. Please look for these in your market:
Pierre Peters, Veuve Fourny, Larmandier-Bernier, Egly-Ouriet, Eric
Rodez, François Billion, Agrapart. It will be worth your while.

What, no Guy Larmandier?


"Mike Tommasi" > wrote in message
...
> Mark Slater wrote:
>
>> My crusade the last few years has been to turn people on to RM
>> Champagnes. "RM" means Recoltant Manipulant. These are small growers
>> who buy no grapes or juice. Only estate grapes. The wines have more
>> character and personality. Please look for these in your market:
>> Pierre Peters, Veuve Fourny, Larmandier-Bernier, Egly-Ouriet, Eric
>> Rodez, François Billion, Agrapart. It will be worth your while.
>
> OK yes, but I think Dale knows about them too :-)
>
> I will be serving 13 of these RMs a week sunday for lunch, Nils will be
> there, we'll let you know: Diebolt-Vallois, Pierre Moncuit,
> Larmandier-Bernier, Egly-Ouriet, Gatinois, Raymons Boulard, Dehours,
> Bérèche, Roses de Jeanne, Bertrand Gautherot, Benoit Lahaye, Vilmart,
> Jacques Selosse
>
> --
> Mike Tommasi - Six Fours, France
> email link http://www.tommasi.org/mymail

On Aug 29, 12:59�am, Mark Slater > wrote:
> On Aug 28, 2:20 pm, DaleW > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > So, after our Champagne dinner the other night I ran across a sentence
> > (somewhere) where someone cited Pol Roger as a "heavier" style of
> > Champagne. That didn't jibe with my (limited) experience. So off and
> > on I've been thinking about Champagne houses and where they fall on
> > the spectrum of styles.
>
> > Obviously there can be no definitive answer. How do you define style?
> > Not every house has a consistent style, some may vary a lot by vintage
> > (or combination of vintages in a NV). The tete de cuvee is of course
> > generally always "bigger" than the NV or normal vintage bottling, but
> > in most cases I think there is some correlation inside a house. I
> > threw together a list, based on impressions I've had tasting and of
> > course conversations. Of course, my impressions are not based on any
> > scientific sample, maybe for one house I've mostly tasted the BdB,
> > while at another I've had mostly NV rose and Tete de Cuvee. But I
> > still thought I'd throw out my list, and see what people with more
> > experience of a particular house things. I didn't list every house
> > (only a couple tries of couple of the Heidsiecks, or Salon) nor
> > growers.
>
> > So here's my list, from lightest to heaviest style.
>
> > Laurent Perrier
> > Pommery
> > Perrier Jouet
> > Taittinger
> > Pol Roger
> > Billecart Salmon
> > Jacquesson
> > Lanson
> > Deutz
> > Piper Heidsieck
> > Moet and Chandon
> > Roederer
> > Veuve Cliquot
> > Krug
> > Bollinger
>
> > Feel free to tell me I'm totally wrong!
>
> My crusade the last few years has been to turn people on to RM
> Champagnes. "RM" means Recoltant Manipulant. These are small growers
> who buy no grapes or juice. Only estate grapes. The wines have more
> character and personality. Please look for these in your market:
> Pierre Peters, Veuve Fourny, Larmandier-Bernier, Egly-Ouriet, Eric
> Rodez, Fran�ois Billion, Agrapart. It will be worth your while.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I'm a fan of RM Champagnes, and own more Pierre Peters than any other
bubbly (well, any other Champagne, my biggest bubbly holding is of
Huet Petillant). But as I stated I was leaving out the growers.
Because of the smaller scale, I think they think less in terms of
"house style" than say...the houses!

Actually, I buy more sparkling Loire than Champagne. The Huet costs as
much as some Champagnes now, but I also like Pinon, Chidaine, and
Foreau (had latter last night).

On Aug 29, 9:02�am, DaleW > wrote:
> On Aug 29, 12:59 am, Mark Slater > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Aug 28, 2:20 pm, DaleW > wrote:
>
> > > So, after our Champagne dinner the other night I ran across a sentence
> > > (somewhere) where someone cited Pol Roger as a "heavier" style of
> > > Champagne. That didn't jibe with my (limited) experience. So off and
> > > on I've been thinking about Champagne houses and where they fall on
> > > the spectrum of styles.
>
> > > Obviously there can be no definitive answer. How do you define style?
> > > Not every house has a consistent style, some may vary a lot by vintage
> > > (or combination of vintages in a NV). The tete de cuvee is of course
> > > generally always "bigger" than the NV or normal vintage bottling, but
> > > in most cases I think there is some correlation inside a house. I
> > > threw together a list, based on impressions I've had tasting and of
> > > course conversations. Of course, my impressions are not based on any
> > > scientific sample, maybe for one house I've mostly tasted the BdB,
> > > while at another I've had mostly NV rose and Tete de Cuvee. But I
> > > still thought I'd throw out my list, and see what people with more
> > > experience of a particular house things. I didn't list every house
> > > (only a couple tries of couple of the Heidsiecks, or Salon) nor
> > > growers.
>
> > > So here's my list, from lightest to heaviest style.
>
> > > Laurent Perrier
> > > Pommery
> > > Perrier Jouet
> > > Taittinger
> > > Pol Roger
> > > Billecart Salmon
> > > Jacquesson
> > > Lanson
> > > Deutz
> > > Piper Heidsieck
> > > Moet and Chandon
> > > Roederer
> > > Veuve Cliquot
> > > Krug
> > > Bollinger
>
> > > Feel free to tell me I'm totally wrong!
>
> > My crusade the last few years has been to turn people on to RM
> > Champagnes. "RM" means Recoltant Manipulant. These are small growers
> > who buy no grapes or juice. Only estate grapes. The wines have more
> > character and personality. Please look for these in your market:
> > Pierre Peters, Veuve Fourny, Larmandier-Bernier, Egly-Ouriet, Eric
> > Rodez, Fran ois Billion, Agrapart. It will be worth your while.- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> I'm a fan of RM Champagnes, and own more Pierre Peters than any other
> bubbly (well, any other Champagne, my biggest bubbly holding is of
> Huet Petillant). But as I stated I was leaving out the growers.
> Because of the smaller scale, I think they think less in terms of
> "house style" than say...the houses!
>
> Actually, I buy more sparkling Loire than Champagne. The Huet costs as
> much as some Champagnes now, but I also like Pinon, Chidaine, and
> Foreau (had latter last night).- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I'M a big fan of Pierre Peters and Pierre Gimmonnet. Both a Theirry
Theise wines and he has a growing stable of RM champers.

In article >,
Mike Tommasi > wrote:

> Mark Slater wrote:
>
> > My crusade the last few years has been to turn people on to RM
> > Champagnes. "RM" means Recoltant Manipulant. These are small growers
> > who buy no grapes or juice. Only estate grapes. The wines have more
> > character and personality. Please look for these in your market:
> > Pierre Peters, Veuve Fourny, Larmandier-Bernier, Egly-Ouriet, Eric
> > Rodez, François Billion, Agrapart. It will be worth your while.
>
> OK yes, but I think Dale knows about them too :-)
>
> I will be serving 13 of these RMs a week sunday for lunch, Nils will be
> there, we'll let you know: Diebolt-Vallois, Pierre Moncuit,
> Larmandier-Bernier, Egly-Ouriet, Gatinois, Raymons Boulard, Dehours,
> Bérèche, Roses de Jeanne, Bertrand Gautherot, Benoit Lahaye, Vilmart,
> Jacques Selosse

I have a much harder time obtaining RM wines other than by buying them
online and that tends to get expensive fast. Wish I knew of a place
locally that I could get them at reasonable prices as I have had several
of these at others houses in different parts of the country that have
more availability. I am also drinking more Cava lately.

"Mark Slater" > wrote in message
...
> My crusade the last few years has been to turn people on to RM
> Champagnes. "RM" means Recoltant Manipulant. These are small growers
> who buy no grapes or juice. Only estate grapes. The wines have more
> character and personality. Please look for these in your market:
> Pierre Peters, Veuve Fourny, Larmandier-Bernier, Egly-Ouriet, Eric
> Rodez, François Billion, Agrapart. It will be worth your while.

At Champagne tastings I've been to in the last 2-3 years, Egly-Ouriet
has consistently been my favorite. However production is rather small,
so it can be hard to find.

Jim

** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

On Aug 29, 11:20�am, "Jim Mehl" > wrote:
> "Mark Slater" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> > My crusade the last few years has been to turn people on to RM
> > Champagnes. "RM" means Recoltant Manipulant. These are small growers
> > who buy no grapes or juice. Only estate grapes. The wines have more
> > character and personality. Please look for these in your market:
> > Pierre Peters, Veuve Fourny, Larmandier-Bernier, Egly-Ouriet, Eric
> > Rodez, Fran�ois Billion, Agrapart. It will be worth your while.
>
> At Champagne tastings I've been to in the last 2-3 years, Egly-Ouriet
> has consistently been my favorite. However production is rather small,
> so it can be hard to find.
>
> Jim
>
> ** Posted fromhttp://www.teranews.com**

I keep eying the Egly-O at Chamber St , I guess I should just buy

In article >,
"Jim Mehl" > wrote:

> "Mark Slater" > wrote in message
> ...
> > My crusade the last few years has been to turn people on to RM
> > Champagnes. "RM" means Recoltant Manipulant. These are small growers
> > who buy no grapes or juice. Only estate grapes. The wines have more
> > character and personality. Please look for these in your market:
> > Pierre Peters, Veuve Fourny, Larmandier-Bernier, Egly-Ouriet, Eric
> > Rodez, François Billion, Agrapart. It will be worth your while.
>
> At Champagne tastings I've been to in the last 2-3 years, Egly-Ouriet
> has consistently been my favorite. However production is rather small,
> so it can be hard to find.
>
> Jim
>
> ** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

It is available but $75 per bottle plus shipping.

On Aug 29, 12:21�pm, Lawrence Leichtman > wrote:
> In article >,
> �"Jim Mehl" > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > "Mark Slater" > wrote in message
> ....
> > > My crusade the last few years has been to turn people on to RM
> > > Champagnes. "RM" means Recoltant Manipulant. These are small growers
> > > who buy no grapes or juice. Only estate grapes. The wines have more
> > > character and personality. Please look for these in your market:
> > > Pierre Peters, Veuve Fourny, Larmandier-Bernier, Egly-Ouriet, Eric
> > > Rodez, Fran�ois Billion, Agrapart. It will be worth your while.
>
> > At Champagne tastings I've been to in the last 2-3 years, Egly-Ouriet
> > has consistently been my favorite. However production is rather small,
> > so it can be hard to find.
>
> > Jim
>
> > ** Posted fromhttp://www.teranews.com**
>
> It is available but $75 per bottle plus shipping.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

B-21 in Florida now ships, and shows the NV at $40. But my experience
is their website is out of date most of the time I see something.

Astor, CSW, and Sherry Lehmann in NYC and MacArthurs/Bassins in DC
have various bottlings for $50-60. Expensive, but until dollar shows
better I think we've seen the last of the good grower Champagnes for
$30-35.

In article
>,
DaleW > wrote:

> On Aug 29, 12:21?pm, Lawrence Leichtman > wrote:
> > In article >,
> > ?"Jim Mehl" > wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > "Mark Slater" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > > My crusade the last few years has been to turn people on to RM
> > > > Champagnes. "RM" means Recoltant Manipulant. These are small growers
> > > > who buy no grapes or juice. Only estate grapes. The wines have more
> > > > character and personality. Please look for these in your market:
> > > > Pierre Peters, Veuve Fourny, Larmandier-Bernier, Egly-Ouriet, Eric
> > > > Rodez, Fran?ois Billion, Agrapart. It will be worth your while.
> >
> > > At Champagne tastings I've been to in the last 2-3 years, Egly-Ouriet
> > > has consistently been my favorite. However production is rather small,
> > > so it can be hard to find.
> >
> > > Jim
> >
> > > ** Posted fromhttp://www.teranews.com**
> >
> > It is available but $75 per bottle plus shipping.- Hide quoted text -
> >
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> B-21 in Florida now ships, and shows the NV at $40. But my experience
> is their website is out of date most of the time I see something.
>
> Astor, CSW, and Sherry Lehmann in NYC and MacArthurs/Bassins in DC
> have various bottlings for $50-60. Expensive, but until dollar shows
> better I think we've seen the last of the good grower Champagnes for
> $30-35.

$74 is for the Grand Cru. The regular bottling is $59 but only one wine
shop Wally's in LA has it in stock.