As your picky Wineguider continues asking “what champagne for New Year’s Eve?” today we review a $50 French rosé, Nicolas Feuillatte.
OK this stuff is serious. It has a very fruity, slightly spicy aroma. Maybe that’s because it’s 60% pinot noir. (And 10% chardonnay, and 30% pinot meunier, whatever THAT is). The taste is also interesting, very balanced. Tasting less sweet than the aroma suggests, it gives you sparkly strawberries and blackberries combined with a tart, alcohol-ish snap. The bubbles are NOT overwhelming, and you get some of the joy of drinking a good wine — nice!
But then, I did THE TEST. I brought this $50 bottle to a big, fun Christmas party with a live band and guests in their 30s – 60s, in an affluent neighborhood in West Chester, PA. This, and a bottle of Martini & Rossi sparkling rosé, which is just $15. The results? At the end of the night, the Nicolas Feuillatte was untouched. The Martini & Rossi was drained. Like, half a glass left. And you can’t say it was because the M&R looked better — these bottles look eerily identical.
The lesson? For a big party like New Year’s Eve, it doesn’t make sense to break the bank on bubbly. Cheap works. Or at least, it CAN work, if you buy the right kind. Lesson 2? Martini & Rossi rosé is FUN, as I said in my recent review. And when you’re not buying for a big party, I say go extreme: either cheap n’ sweet, or high end — $45 and higher. Mid-priced bubbly is a waste of your money, because it just doesn’t taste good — overwhelmed with bubbles and alcohol, and not much else.
Nicolas Feuillatte brut rosé champagne is very good, and I highly recommend it for general purposes. But I can’t recommend that you buy it “in quantity” for your New Year’s Eve party. Next!
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