#WW Five Champagnes for the Holidays, and Beyond

Champagne is expensive — usually from $30 a bottle on up. The best values tend to kick in around the $40-$50 range. That’s another reason to treat them like fine wine and savor them out of a decent glass. Here are a few to brighten your holiday season.

Heidsieck & Co. Monopole Gold Top Brut 2005
3 Stars GREAT VALUE
Champagne, France, $50

A “great value” for $50? Absolutely, when you’re talking vintage Champagne at this quality. The wine is generous and friendly, as welcoming as a roaring fire in winter. Alcohol by volume: 12 percent.

Gonet-Medeville Blanc de Noirs Premier Cru Brut
3 Stars GREAT VALUE
Champagne, France, $52

Another delicious Champagne, racy with red currant and mineral flavors. Blanc de Noirs means a white wine from black (red) grapes. This wine is 100 percent pinot noir from chalky soils, and is precisely focused and energetic. It wants you to sit up and take notice. ABV: 12.5 percent.

Lancelot-Goussard, Claude Lancelot Blanc de Blancs Brut
3 Stars GREAT VALUE
Champagne, France, $42

Blanc de Blancs means “white from whites” and indicates a Champagne made entirely from chardonnay. This one is expansive in mouthfeel and rich with tree fruit flavors and some nice toasty character. ABV: 12 percent.

Charles Orban Carte Noire Brut
2-1/2 Stars GREAT VALUE
Champagne, France, $42

This wine blends the three Champagne grapes — pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay — in equal proportions, so it was an appropriate wine for my glass tasting experiment. This is classic Champagne, minerally and fruity with great focus. ABV: 12 percent.

Pommery Brut Royal
2-1/2 Stars GREAT VALUE
Champagne, France, $42

Pommery is one of the classic Champagne houses. Its wines display an elegance and delicacy that appeal to me. If there’s such a thing as liquid gossamer, it probably resides in the chalk cellars of Pommery. ABV: 12 percent.

These recommendations were published in The Washington Post on December 3, 2014. For store availability information in the DMV markets, click here. 

3 Stars = Exceptional; 2 Stars = Excellent; 1 Star = Very Good. These ratings are intended to show my enthusiasm for the wines. Any wine recommended is worth buying, in my opinion.