Does anyone else prefer Champagne to not be overly yeasty?

[Lowell_C]

Without knowing which burb you live in, thankfully you still have great options. Grapes The Wine Company is in White Plains and the WineConnection is in Pound Ridge. I’m relatively certain that a store like Crush will deliver to you and that is a place that you’ll want to familiarize yourself with though your wallet may not be so happy

I live in Baldwin which is South Shore Nassau County.

Hi neighbor! I’m RVC

Hello!

Are there any good liquor stores in RVC? Baldwin certainly doesn’t have any (at least not for Champagne).

[DougS]

The closest good wine store to me is Total Wines. I live in New York so there are a lot of good wine shops in the boroughs, but I live in the suburbs and the standard selection in my vicinity is very subpar (just Moet, Cliquot, and Dom).

I use Wine.com and for my birthday, I have an order of Laurent Perrier Brut NV, Ployez Jacquemart Brut NV, Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Rose, and Drappier Carte D’Or coming up.

I’ve been to quite a few Total Wine locations in several states, and I wouldn’t call any of them a good wine store. I mean that seriously, and not in any argumentative way, but just to point you toward some of the retailers recommended in this thread or any number of other options available in your broader area. You obviously have a passion for wine that requires much better selection and guidance than Total Wine offers. They make it look good, with a lot to choose from and all, but I literally had to drive to another store when on vacation in Florida because I couldn’t find a few decent bottles for the hotel room (based on my preferences, of course; they have a good domestic selection at seemingly every location).

[Lowell_C]

The closest good wine store to me is Total Wines. I live in New York so there are a lot of good wine shops in the boroughs, but I live in the suburbs and the standard selection in my vicinity is very subpar (just Moet, Cliquot, and Dom).

I use Wine.com and for my birthday, I have an order of Laurent Perrier Brut NV, Ployez Jacquemart Brut NV, Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Rose, and Drappier Carte D’Or coming up.

I’ve been to quite a few Total Wine locations in several states, and I wouldn’t call any of them a good wine store. I mean that seriously, and not in any argumentative way, but just to point you toward some of the retailers recommended in this thread or any number of other options available in your broader area. You obviously have a passion for wine that requires much better selection and guidance than Total Wine offers. They make it look good, with a lot to choose from and all, but I literally had to drive to another store when on vacation in Florida because I couldn’t find a few decent bottles for the hotel room (based on my preferences, of course; they have a good domestic selection at seemingly every location).

I went on their website and they had good prices on a lot of the Champagnes I wanted to try, that’s why I had them in mind.

But I’ll keep what you said in mind and find somewhere better.

[Lowell_C]

My bottle of Charles Heidseick had a base vintage of 2011 and was disgorged in 2018.

Ouch, probably the lousiest recent vintage in Champagne. Even though Heidsieck uses a lot of reserve wines so that the proportion of base vintage is relatively small in relation to other producers’ NVs, I’ve been trying to actively avoid that particular vintage. As with other producers too, of course.

It could be worth trying another bottle of Charlie from a better base vintage?

I’m absolutely open to trying another bottle of Charlie. I think it could be something I really enjoy if it were just a little different from the bottle I had.

[DougS]

The closest good wine store to me is Total Wines. I live in New York so there are a lot of good wine shops in the boroughs, but I live in the suburbs and the standard selection in my vicinity is very subpar (just Moet, Cliquot, and Dom).

I use Wine.com and for my birthday, I have an order of Laurent Perrier Brut NV, Ployez Jacquemart Brut NV, Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Rose, and Drappier Carte D’Or coming up.

I’ve been to quite a few Total Wine locations in several states, and I wouldn’t call any of them a good wine store. I mean that seriously, and not in any argumentative way, but just to point you toward some of the retailers recommended in this thread or any number of other options available in your broader area. You obviously have a passion for wine that requires much better selection and guidance than Total Wine offers. They make it look good, with a lot to choose from and all, but I literally had to drive to another store when on vacation in Florida because I couldn’t find a few decent bottles for the hotel room (based on my preferences, of course; they have a good domestic selection at seemingly every location).

I went on their website and they had good prices on a lot of the Champagnes I wanted to try, that’s why I had them in mind.

But I’ll keep what you said in mind and find somewhere better.

I see. They do have good prices on some of the big names, and some of the big names in Champagne are making nice wines, so that makes sense to me. Getting out into the broader world of Champagne, especially grower producers, will require going elsewhere.

[Brad_Baker]

Ah it says “laid in chalk cellars in 2011”, so that would be 2010 vintage?

Lowell,

Yes, the base vintage is 2010 and it is then blended, bottled, and laid to rest in the cellars in 2011. Kind of confusing, but it is a ‘traditional, old school’ Champagne way of talking about things. Just stating the base vintage would be easier, but even as Champagne becomes more open with information, they still like to play some games. This particular release is the most pre-disgorgement aged normal release Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve that I have come across. Add in the heavier quality of the 2010 base vintage and you end up with the expression you experienced and are not a big fan of. As I mentioned earlier, try a much younger and lesser pre-disgorgement aged version of the wine before writing it off.

[Howard_Cooper]

I’ve been getting really into Champagne over the last few months (wine in general, but especially Champagne/sparkling).

The other night I had a bottle of Charles Heidseick Brut NV, which is pretty highly regarded. The yeast/dough flavor was overwhelming to me and I didn’t enjoy the bottle much.

Generally, it seems like Champagnes are regarded more highly the yeastier they are. I personally prefer a nice balance of fruit and yeast/autolytic notes, rather than the wine smelling and tasting massively of yeast.

When I had a bottle of Louis Roederer Brut NV, that was 10/10 to me. Nice clean taste, good mouthfeel, with a subtle creamy/nuttiness.

So I’ve tried several different Brut NV Champagnes, most of which I liked. I would like to know what I should be looking for given my preferences, so that I lower the chances of spending money on a bottle I’m not that into. l liked just about all the other ones I had (even the $20 Costco one).

I’m also curious as to whether yeasty and autolytic are the same thing. Since I like some qualities deemed autolytic, but I’m not into an overwhelming pizza dough kind of taste.

I don’t mind and actually enjoy some of whatever one wants to call this in my Champagne. But I have a good friend who hates it. As a result, he cannot stand Krug.

[Christos_M]

I second recommendations on trying grower champagnes. Another one to try is Moncuit Robert Extra Brut Les Grands Blancs NV.

The Total Wine near you is good and there is a Stew Leonard liquor store in Carle Place also has a decent selection. Wine Library in NJ will ship to you if you check out their website.

[Peter_Chiu]

I’ve been getting really into Champagne over the last few months (wine in general, but especially Champagne/sparkling).

The other night I had a bottle of Charles Heidseick Brut NV, which is pretty highly regarded. The yeast/dough flavor was overwhelming to me and I didn’t enjoy the bottle much.

Generally, it seems like Champagnes are regarded more highly the yeastier they are. I personally prefer a nice balance of fruit and yeast/autolytic notes, rather than the wine smelling and tasting massively of yeast.

When I had a bottle of Louis Roederer Brut NV, that was 10/10 to me. Nice clean taste, good mouthfeel, with a subtle creamy/nuttiness.

So I’ve tried several different Brut NV Champagnes, most of which I liked. I would like to know what I should be looking for given my preferences, so that I lower the chances of spending money on a bottle I’m not that into. l liked just about all the other ones I had (even the $20 Costco one).

I’m also curious as to whether yeasty and autolytic are the same thing. Since I like some qualities deemed autolytic, but I’m not into an overwhelming pizza dough kind of taste.

I don’t mind and actually enjoy some of whatever one wants to call this in my Champagne. But I have a good friend who hates it. As a result, he cannot stand Krug.

Howard…I am like your good friend. I do not like Champagne ( and never try to get into it in my wine life). I will drink it…if someone else pay for it…

[K_N_Haque]

Raeders Wine in Albertson has a pretty good selection of Champagne. It’s not the closest to Baldwin, but still Nassau County.

[Lowell_C]

I went to Astor Wines and picked out a bottle of Michel Loriot Blanc de Noirs (100% Pinot Meunier), it was delicious and a good value at 29 dollars. Unfortunately they were sold out of the Charles Ricciuti, I wanted to try that one out too. I also got a bottle of J Lassalle Preference, it was pretty good too.

I don’t remember the J Lassalle as vividly since I was pretty drunk when I had it, I should have saved that bottle.

They were both pretty fruity and creamy. I was surprised at the Blanc de Noirs being so smooth.

[Lowell_C]

To celebrate my birthday yesterday (a day early), I had a bottle of Laurent Perrier Brut NV and Dom Perignon 2008 which I bought on a whim.


The latter was fantastic, I split a bottle with my friend and we couldn’t stop talking about how good it was. I didn’t find it to taste “yeasty” at all, more so earthy, rich, and just all around really good. I found it hard to describe the taste, just really damn good.