The World's Oldest Champagne

[Ethan Bentley]

A bottle of Perrier-Jouet Champagne from 1825 has recently been opened and drunk by twelve wine experts.

Details here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7954876.stm

What's the best Champagne any of the loungers have tasted?

 

[John in Covina]

In the late 70's a friend had some Perrier Jolet (in perhaps the painted bottle) for a party and that bottle was outstanding, better than any before and most since.

 

[Troglodyte]

Odd Palate

Well, in keeping with my screen name, I prefer Cook's Extra Dry, which runs about $5 a bottle, placing it firmly in the same category with J. Roget and Andre (neither of which I can stomach). Not technically champagne, but an American sparkling wine.

I compared it to a bottle of vintage Dom Perignon, and liked the Cook's better. Fresher, crisper, and without the odd smoky taste the DP had. To each his own, I guess!

Trog

 

[HadleyH]

A bottle of Perrier-Jouet Champagne from 1825 has recently been opened and drunk by twelve wine experts.

Details here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7954876.stm

Old it might have been ... but it had no bubbles says the article! what a shame!


I know, i know...

 

[dr greg]

the widow's peak

I kept a bottle of 76 Veuve in the fridge for 24 years, and drank it with my bro-in-law when he made the Olympic team in 2000, it was bloody nice, and he, being French, said it was the best he had ever experienced, much to his surprise.

 

[budrichard]

My favorite wine is Champagne and a Vintage Champagne can be no better than a non-vintage from the same House or it can be better but what is attractive about a vintage Champagne is that it is a unique experience which will never be repeated. Most of what we drink is non-vintage from a few houses such a Pol Roger, Bollinger and the like. But we do drink Vintage such as the Bollinger Rd series and the like from time to time.
At a vertical tasting with Christain Pol Roger a few years ago, both my wife and I both preferred the Pol Roger vintage Chardonnay to the 'Sir Winston' Cuvee and of course the Non-Vntage Pol Roger was not far behind.
My all time favorite was a 1962 Dom Perignon of which we had purchased a case of many many years ago. We had kept two bottles properly stored in our celler and about 5 years ago upon opening, discovered that the wine was maderized. I now realize that there is a time limit to keeping Champagne to be enjoyed in its bubbly state. The same is true for other white wine such as Burgundies and the great German BA and TBA wines. They will age nicely for a number of years but there comes a time that no matter how good the cellering conditions are, the wine starts to maderize and although there are some that would tell you that these wines are attractive, they are not as they don't represent the true charachter of the wine.-Dick

 

[Steve Works]

It's a shame it wasn't better preserved....
__________________________________________
Steve Works
sweet champagne
champagne tasting

 

[Rathdown]

Before it became the swill-of-choice of all those (c)rap stars, I used to drink Roederer Crystal; in the 70s it was about $50 a bottle, and jolly good value. I now mostly drink Roederer Hermitage (from their California vineyard). Typically I'll go through about a bottle per week, more if my wife and I are entertaining friends at dinner.

As Dick has pointed out, champagne is ready to drink the moment it leaves the estate, so there is no point in buying more than you can consume in a year. I usually lay in six bottles at a time, and "re-stock" when I get down to one or two bottles, and I am always careful to have four bottles of the same vintage on hand when entertaining.