Real Champagne For $20?

I had never heard of G.F. Duntze and a search here didn’t turn up anything. When I saw it was $19.99, I thought that this will probably be a bottle that goes down the drain. Much to my surprise, this is the real deal. It’s a Brut comprised of 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, and 15% Meunier and dosage of 7.5. It has an interesting nose of biscuit and citrus and a palate of mixed citrus. It’s nicely balanced with a dry finish. No, it’s not Cristal, not even close. But a 12 bottle case can be had for what a single bottle of Cristal is retailing. I could drink this frequently and be pleased.

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Yes, for real. The real expense of costly beverages is often their marketing.

Where?

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I’ve never heard of that wine either, but CT notes are good, though there are few of them, and W-S shows a low price of $37. So it appears you got a deal more than having found a legit $20 Champagne. I once bought a bunch of Deutz Brut at $20, and another time bought a couple cases of Mumm Privilege - which I think was a product designed for restaurants with a bit more aging than the standard NV - for $16. I’d gladly stock up on either if I saw them at that price again. I think that in the discount Champagne realm, Moutard is really solid at $25, but that is the cheapest quality Champagne I’ve found aside from the type of deals I mention above.

Isn’t Kirkland Champagne also $20 and also Real Champagne?

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yes it is and probably just as good as Veuve Clicquot for well over half the price. I like the one bottle I had a few years back. champagne.gif

A few retailers have private label Champagne around the $20-25 range that I would take over VC at $45-49.99.

I wonder if we will see a price increase in 2022 on private label Champagne due to the agreed upon yield reduction for the 2020 harvest. Those should be released next summer to the market.

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Considering you can find sparkling wines from the Languedoc for that price it makes sense to me. I’m still a fan of St. Hilaire even though it’s not champagne… they’re the OGs.

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Found Duntze at Total Wine for the $40 price point as Winery Direct and just assumed it was another crappy Winery Direct wine.

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I purchased it locally with no reason to believe that the shelf price was not regular retail. I still consider it a value at $37 but at $19.99, I’m going to buy all that they can get me.

Albert Lebrun Grand Cru Brut is at Costco for $25.

Because of this thread, I picked up some of the Duntze Brut yesterday at TW. Was around $30 after 25% off coupon. Worth every penny; this could be a nice house champagne

Agree

I’ve had a few bottles and it is good with a little air…little jagged at first but calms to a nice punchy citrus with some lees brioche. Totally drinkable for $25!

This is how I feel when someone is like… “This is… edible.”

Real Champagne can absolutely be had for that price. Here in Canada we get a few brands such as Tarlant and Victoire for the equivalent $40 CDN. I’d put them on the same quality level of a good Cremant which go for $20-40 CDN and I bet is $10-20 US. Nothing mind-blowing but certainly very drinkable. Just because my own small collection of Champagne is exclusively vintage grower’s wine, doesn’t mean I thumb my nose down at wines that don’t meet my personal criteria. The people making these more affordable wines work just as hard as everyone else in the industry. They just have different goals.

I think that we on the board aim so high – and rightfully so, I can always tell by the posts that everyone here has worked hard to achieve their positions in life and the ability to afford our hobby that comes with those positions – that we often forget that we are not the mainstream and anything that hits below our aim seems not to be “real.” But this is not the case. It’s simply aiming for a very different market than us and you can bet that market is much larger.

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Tran, I don’t know if you get them at LCBO but over the last few years, the SAQ has put a few decent <=40$ ones on the shelves: Émile Leclère Brut Réserve, Paul Dangin Extra-Brut Cuvée Jean-Baptiste and Louis Nicaise Premier Cru Brut Réserve.

I feel they are better than Tarlant, Victoire or Tribault when needing something at a cheaper price point.

Two of the best ~$20-$25 champagnes I’ve had I got at K&L in late 2017: Jean Josselin Cuvée des Jean NV and Brison (various vintage offerings, 09, 10 and 12). Both “real” and still punching way above their weight.

These two bubblies appear to cost more than $25 now though, when not on sale, so that ship may have sailed :frowning:.

Unfortunately not at the LCBO. The affordable brands they bring in are Tarlant, Victoire, and Gardet which are in the $40 CDN price range. There are a couple in the $50 CDN range as well such as Nicolas Feuillatte. I’m looking at the SAQ page and see the brands you mentioned available. Might consider some for this year’s Xmasukah dinner in Montreal with my family. It is overdue that I introduce them to the pleasures of Champagne. I may have to ease them into it with some Cremant, though.

That’s what I was going to mention. It’s a perfectly good drink.

If you bump it up to 50$ at SAQ you can look into Ployez-Jacquemart Extra Quality Brut, Pierre Gerbais Grains de Celles or Nicolas Maillart Platine Brut Premier Cru. I enjoyed all three and the Pierre Gerbais is a regular at my house.