After last week's touching tale, there is relatively little to say about this wine of the week other than that it is arguably the most reliable non-vintage champagne of them all, made by one of the very last family-owned large houses with their own grapes, and is currently on special offer in the UK at £19.99 a bottle.
Britain's largest supermarket chain Tesco is reducing its per bottle price by a fiver from 30 July until 2 September in 353 of their stores. You can also buy this particularly fine wine at this price at Majestic Wine Warehouses but have to buy at least two bottles to enjoy this price and a further 10 bottles of something to make up Majestic's minimum order of a mixed case of wine. And the enterprising small independent chain WineSearcher is $27.99 from Sam's Wines & Spirits of Chicago, so a bit less than the UK's best price.
Of the well-known, so-called grandes marques of champagne (no longer an official title), Bollinger, Louis Roederer, Pol Roger and Veuve Clicquot all carry a premium. But heavy Bollinger can be awkwardly angular when young, racy Pol Roger can also need a little bottle age to show its best and variable Veuve Clicquot can be downright disappointing in my view. But I have yet to experience a bottle of Louis Roederer Brut Premier that did not taste deliciously superior and ready to drink.
Would it be bad luck to lay in a bottle or two for a possible celebration – exam results?
