Cristal Champagne

[gerkin]

Never tried it - any good ?

[Ethel]

I don't think any champagne is worth over �100 a bottle

[stevie_c2it]

To answer the question, yes it�s very good.

Whether it�s worth the price tag is however open to a very subjective argument.
For example, the difference between a bottle of non-vintage Moet & Chandon (�25ish), and a bottle of vintage Dom Perignon (�70ish), other than the obvious, is the quality and complexity of taste. However, you�ll tend to find that the improvement is only marginal compared to the price. I.E. although the cost may be almost three times the price, the champagne itself is not going to be three times better tasting!

The critical issue with champagne is how the three types of grapes used in its production (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier) are blended together. It has an incredibly diverse effect on the potential taste of the finished drink.
In addition, one of the main reasons behind the high cost of premium (Cuv�e Prestige) champagnes like Krug, Cristal and Dom Perignon is how the juice from the grape is extracted. It has to be from the first pressing (pressure equivalent of finger and thumb), that way only the purest extract is obtained with no tainting from the slightly bitter flavour of the skin (which means a much greater wastage).
Other champagnes may press every ounce of juice from the grape, to provide a more economical, but lesser quality champagne.

[stevie_c2it]

One other final issue is simply the weather; the three different grapes have slightly different requirements to reach perfection in terms of temperature (exposure to frost etc), rainfall, and sunshine and so on. It�s a rare season that can deliver all three grapes at there best (these are the vintage years), and due to recent seasons being generally poor the scarcity of premium champagne has risen dramatically.

My own opinion is Dom Perignon is a better drink and about �50 cheaper, but if you do have a windfall I�d recommend buying a case of Cristal or two. The bottles I bought five years ago have more than doubled in value (if only that were true of the money in my bank account), and I don�t think the weather is going to be improving any time soon.