New Years Eve Champagne Tasting
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Tasted Tuesday, December 31, 2024 - Wednesday, January 1, 2025 by pjkwinelover with 101 views
Introduction
We decided to have friends over for New Years and came up with the idea of a champagne tasting. We had 5 sparkling wines ranging in price from $7 to $55 with all but the $55 Veuve Clicquot costing $20 or less. The wines were tasted blind. We compared wine 1 with wine 2, then each individual compared their favorite of these with wine 3. This continued till all wines were tasted.
Flight 1 - Two midrange bottles (2 Notes)
We compared these two wines and, while there was nothing wrong with the Chandon, every taster preferred the Gelida. Just a little smoother and fresher.
Flight 2 - Flight 1 favorite vs Kirkland Prosecco (1 Note)
The $7 Kirkland held up really well here. Most of the non-wine drinkers preferred it over the Gelida. More fruit less wine. More like a juice but honestly very refreshing. The wine drinkers preferred the Gelida so both of these wines moved forward to the next flight.
Flight 3 - Flight 2 favorite vs Kirkland Champagne (1 Note)
It was interesting that everyone preferred their Flight 2 wines over the Kirkland Champagne. The Champagne was just a little harsher than the other wines with a bit of an astringent taste. So the Kirkland Champagne was not tasted any more.
Flight 4 - Flight 3 favorite vs Veuve Clicquot (1 Note)
It was fascinating to me that everyone preferred the Clicquot over their previous favorites. Even the Prosecco drinkers thought the Cliquot was nice. I was surprised that the expensive wine would be the clear winner in a blind tasting but it was.
Flight 5 - Chandon vs Kirkland Champagne
The next day we tasted the Chandon vs the Kirkland Signature Champagne. Kirkland was the clear loser again with it's harsher taste than the Chandon.
Closing
Three things I learned from this. First, I did not expect a conclusive winner but I was wrong. The Clicquot was tasted last and was the clear winner pretty much by everyone. It was smoother without the harshness that some of the others had. So maybe it is worth spending extra for special occasions. Second, the Kirkland Prosecco is really good for what it is. Very refreshing for a hot day and a good wine to have around. Third, the Kirkland Champagne is probably worth skipping. It was by far my least favorite with a harshness way stronger than any of the others.
Oh and fourth, the Gelida Cava is really nice for a $15 bottle. It was close to the Veuve Clicquot at a third the price.
NV Domaine Chandon Brut 88 Points
USA, California
(12/31/2024)
This started out the tasting against the Gelida Cava and everyone chose the Gelida over this. We later tasted this Chandon against the Kirkland Champagne and this one was the clear winner. A nice wine but just not quite as good as some of the others.
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2018 Vins El Cep Cava Brut Gelida Gran Reserva 90 Points
Spain, Cava
(12/31/2024)
What a nice Cava for the price! Smooth fruit flavors, nice bubbles the second favorite wine in the tasting.
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