Recommendations?

[hotwine]

One of my preferred retailers will feature four Champagnes next week. Two are familiar to me: Clicquot Yellow Label and Pommery Brut Royal. However, two are not: Masse Brut Reims at $15.99 and Oudinot Cuvee 2000 at $19.99. I've done a Web search on the Masse Brut and Oudinot and come up empty. Would appreciate any TN's on those two.

[mrdutton]

No help from me, I'm afraid. Other than, at those prices - buy 'em and try 'em. If they taste good to you and you don't have a hangover in the morning, then it was at least fairly decent stuff. (GRIN!!!)

[This message has been edited by mrdutton (edited 12-05-2000).]

[hotwine]

Buy 'em and try 'em is my usual approach, but I look for TN's to help me avoid buying swampwater. And since two bottles of each are required for a decent tasting, that could be $72 worth of the swamp - which would almost buy another case of DB's Nouveau.

No matter - I'll do my duty and field-test 'em. (Into the swamp he slogged, locked & loaded with bayonet fixed....)

[mrdutton]

Look for a hint on the Champagne bottle label.

There is a small code at the bottom of the label ususally followed by a series of numbers.

RM or R.M. - Recoltant-Manipulant - a grower/producer who vinifies, bottles and markets Champagne from grapes he grows. These Champagnes are usually worth seeking out.

MA or M.A. - Marque d'Acheteur - buyer's own brand. Owns no vineyards and makes no Champagne. Buys Champagne from growers, co-ops, or negociants and markets them under various labels. Usually drek, although some can be tolerated.

CM or C.M. - Cooperative-Manipulant - a co-op/producer. Approximately 11,000 growers pool their resources to produce and market their own Champagne brands. There are about 150 such firms. Usually decent to poor.

NM or N.M. - Negociant-Manipulant - a dealer/producer who may own vineyards but generally purchases most of its grapes. This producer then creates and markets Champagne under its own label. This category contains the majority of Champagne firms and represents the widest range of quality levels. All of the mass-market Champagnes are NM houses. They can be excellent to very poor in quality.

Those with the RM code are the ones to seek out and try.

[hotwine]

And also the SR code, for Societe des Recoltants - a growers' company.