Review: 5 Champagnes Under $15
A few weeks ago Nick and I had the pleasure to have my BFFF and her man friend over for some champagne tasting. I wanted a good reason, as if you need one, to acceptably drink bottle after bottle of champagne for the best interests of my readers.
A few notes, Champagne by definition is a sparkling white wine made from a blend of grapes, especially Chardonnay and pinot, produced in Champagne, a historical region and former province of northeast France. That said, some of the "champagnes" discussed below are a Prosecco, which is Italian Champagne, such as myself. :)
Needless to say, the four of us are expert Champagne tasters and a combined 48+ years of drinking experience has groomed us to provide the most professional, unbiased opinions of these selected champagnes. Our method for the tasting was to anonymously number 5 champagne flutes, fine
crystal of course, with the champagne and jot down our opinions of each selection.Very scientific.
Cupcake Vineyard Procecco - $10.49
The
had a beautiful bottle design, and a great name, of course I want to drink something that reminded me of frosting, however this contestant received the lowest overall mark of all the champagnes tasted. Judge's Remarks:
"Sweet, Flat Gross"
"Flat"
"Soft, No Taste, Watery"
"Gross"
Jaume Serra Cristalino - $8.99
The Jaume Serra Cristalino champagne won Wine & Spirits Magazine "Value Brand of the Year" and received semi-decent reviews from our esteemed judges, their remarks:
"Dry, Strong"
"Bubbly, Brut, Strong"
"Bitter, Smooth but Bitter Aftertaste" (You think its bitter?)
"Good, but a Bit on the Sour Side"
Rotari - $14.99
was the most expensive of the champagnes we tasted, it was like the
in "the club", but actually in our dining room. Feedback from this champagne were less than stellar. Judge's Remarks:
"After taste, bitta"
"Dislike, Skunky, Very Bubbly"
"Bubbly, Strong, Bitter, Dry"
"Bitter, Pungent, Bubbly"
Freixenet - $12.99
was the most familar of all the champagnes that we tasted. I know I have bought and drank a flute (or bottle) this champagne, and scored great remarks from our judges:
"Combo of Bitter and Sweet"
"Little Aftertaste"
"Good Balance of Sweet + Dry"
"Clean"
Casteller - $11.99
Casteller won overall best champagne under $15. First of all it is made of the
orangy yellow which is a bonus, but it was so good I think I could drink it all day long. Most of the judges
agree:
"Sweet, Fresh"
"a lil' Sweet"
"Sweet, easy drinker"
"Sweet, Sticky [?] Aftertaste" - whatever that means
Bottom line: When it comes to champagne, cheap is chic. Drink lots of it and make every occasion a special one!!
BONUS: Head over to my
page and hit 'like' - I will be doing a random drawing for a bottle of Yellow Glitter covered
when we reach 200 fans. Who doesn't want to win that? I'll be honest, we better hit our goal soon because that bottle that been in danger of being popped pretty much every weekend its been around.
Until next time....
Love + Diamonds,
AC