good inexpensive champagne

[papag]

Can anyone tell me a good inexpensive champagne to use at a wedding. My sons group drinks beer so they will probably be happy with anything.

[dananne]

I would go with a Cava, a sparkling wine from Spain, which shouldn't run over $10 a bottle, usually less. You could also get a Prosecco, an Italian bubbly, for under $10, as well. For domestic sparkling wine, my QPR favorite is from Gruet, a winery in (of all places) New Mexico. It is our house sparkler.

[wdonovan]

I would get Champagne rather than the other choices. There's not much available at price levels above but if you can get Francois Montand NV Brut (I believe it's a Blanc de Blanc), you'll be amazed. If I tasted it blindly, I'd guess it to be a $30 Champagne (but it's around $10). It's a staple in our house.
There is however, one other factor here...... your guests! Do they for most part appreciate actual Champagne? It is much drier than the stuff that is served at most weddings. I speculate that people who do not drink Champagne except at weddings think it is a sweet bubbly beverage. That would be their only reference. So...... it's really your call based on this. Do you want to serve real Champagne or would the guest prefer something sweet like they may be used to? If the latter, I'd serve something like Asti Spumante (just don't invite me). I would never consider Cava though because the Cavas I've had were even drier than Champagne. I think you'd narrow the size of the appreciative audience if serving this.

[winoweenie]

Like Dananne we use the Gruet as our everyday bubbly. Haven't had the pleezure of the Montand but have it bookmarked. WW

[wdonovan]

w^2, Let me know your thought on this juice once you find and taste it. If you can't get it locally I can email you a link to a warehouse in NJ (don't know if it's OK to link in these posts). It'll cost a few bucks to ship from here but considering the price, it's still probably a bargain.

[Innkeeper]

The Cava I would recommend is Freixenet Cordon Negro Extra Dry. It runs $10.99 per bottle in these parts, and comes in an impressive looking black bottle. Extra Dry in "Champagne Talk" means slightly sweet. Brut means Dry. For a crowd as in a wedding, the slightly sweet goes over best; particularly if they are beer drinkers.

[Bucko]

I strongly second IK.

[dananne]

Well, I'm sticking to my belief that Cava is a good choice for a non-discriminating wedding crowd, particularly something like the Extra Dry rec above. Another option would be Cristalino's Extra Dry, which has that touch of sweetness and runs only about $7.

Thanks for the rec on the Montand -- it sounds great, and we're always on the hunt for inexpensive sparkling wine. In our house, sparklers serve in place of white wines [img]http://wines.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

[winoweenie]

What's white wine? Do you mean SWs'? ww. [img]http://wines.com/ubb/wink.gif[/img]

[brappy]

Well, I have to agree with Dananne. Hundreds of different cavas are out there ranging in different levels of dry, sweet, etc. I've worked hundreds of weddings and never have I had anyone disappointed with the cava I've picked for them. Especially when they want to be cost-conscience. Remember, most people just see that champagne-style bottle and call it champagne. It still IS... called a "champagne toast."

[cpurvis]

For a crowd of beer drinkers, I agree w/ the Cristalino & Cordon Negro recs. The black bottle is a nice added touch.