Champagne Review

Wine rating: Who's doing the testing?

The best reviews of Champagne and sparkling wines come from Wine Spectator, Wine Advocate and The New York Times. These publications test the largest number of Champagnes (which come from a specific region in France) and sparkling wines (from everywhere else), and provide the most detailed tasting notes. Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator's Champagne specialist, tastes hundreds of wines annually and scores them without knowing the producer or price. Veteran critic Robert Parker, founder of the Wine Advocate, accepts no advertising or sponsors and tastes the majority of the wines the publication reviews himself. The New York Times uses a four-star scale and employs a panel consisting of its wine critic, Eric Asimov, a writer or two from the Dining section and one or more wine experts. They taste 25 wines and select the ten best. The Times panel includes detailed tasting notes and helpful food pairings, but we wish that they would name the wines that didn't make the grade.

We also read very good Champagne and sparkling wine reviews at Slate.com and Wine Review Online, although it's unclear whether the reviewers tasted the wines blind. If you have time to spare, Gary Vaynerchuk's Wine Library video blog is both irreverent and instructive, letting you see exactly how critics taste wine. Vaynerchuk's notes are descriptive, and interspersed with comments drawn from pop culture. Champagne tests aren't conducted blind, however.

Consumer Reports enlisted two experts whose credentials are not revealed to blind-taste 23 Champagnes and sparkling wines made in the same style. Bottles range in price from $5 to $42. Although this is the largest comparative review we found, Consumer Reports neglects some of the best-known names in Champagne including Krug, Roederer and Dom Pérignon.

Reviews say that some of the most popular Champagnes don't live up to their hype. Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Brut Yellow Label (*Est. $40) enjoys immense popularity (perhaps the result of its glossy ad campaign) but varies in quality from bottle to bottle, according to experts. Mike Steinberger of Slate.com says it lacks character, and Gary Vaynerchuk agrees that it's overrated, if inoffensive.

Another aggressively marketed wine, Moët & Chandon White Star (*Est. $40), is said to be overly sweet and less intense than other Champagnes. "This oft-derided wine deserves the abuse," writes Slate's Mike Steinberger.

Because individual tastes clearly vary with all kinds of food and drink, we looked for a consensus of opinion when it came to choosing the ConsumerSearch Best Reviewed sparkling wines. While not every Champagne or sparkling wine can please everybody, several bottles rose to the top in multiple reviews and in various price ranges. The Champagnes and sparkling wines included in ConsumerSearch Best Reviewed are repeat favorites in reviews and merit first consideration. Because there are thousands of sparkling wines on the market, we've limited our report for now to true French Champagne and domestic sparkling wine.