The range
Champagne from the grandes marques — Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, G.H. Mumm, Piper-Heidsieck, Taittinger and Bollinger — including prestige cuvées like Louis Roederer Cristal and Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs.
Only wine from the Champagne region of France is Champagne; everything else made the same way is traditional-method sparkling, and there is good Australian and Tasmanian sparkling in the range if that is what you are after.
14bottles. Every one with a reason written against it.
Champagne · France
We stock it because the prestige champagne shelf should not be only three houses deep. Deutz sells on what is in the bottle rather than on the strength of its label, which is exactly why it belongs here.
750 mL12.0%7.1 std
$469.99
Champagne · France
We stock it because a serious champagne list needs a top to it. Most of the shelf turns over on Moet and Veuve; this is the bottle for the anniversary, the milestone birthday and the gift where the box matters as much as the contents. One or two move a month, and their absence is noticed more than their presence.
750 mL12.0%7.1 std
$662.99
Champagne · France
We stock it because vintage Krug is close to the top of what can be bought in champagne. It sells rarely, and it sells to people who know exactly what they are asking for.
750 mL12.0%7.1 std
$982.99
Champagne · France
We stock it because it is the top of the gifting range. At this price the buyer is not comparing bottles, and there are perhaps three names that qualify.
750 mL12.5%7.4 std
$971.99
Champagne · France
We stock it because the vintage champagne shelf needs more than one name on it. Bollinger is the house most often asked for after the big three, and La Grande Annee is its serious wine.
750 mL12.0%7.1 std
$395.99
Champagne · France
We stock it because Yellow Label brings customers in and La Grande Dame is where they go next. Carrying both means the Clicquot buyer never has to leave.
750 mL12.5%7.4 std
$456.99
Champagne · France
We stock it because it is the default answer to a request for something special. More gift and celebration searches land on this name than on any other bottle in the range.
750 mL12.5%7.4 std
$590.99
Champagne · France
We stock it because blanc de blancs is a distinct style, and the prestige shelf should represent it properly rather than leaving it to the Pinot-led houses.
750 mL12.5%10.0 std
$450.00
Champagne · France
We stock it because Krug is the champagne that champagne people buy. It is the clearest signal on the list that this is a serious range.
750 mL12.5%7.4 std
$590.99
Champagne · France
We stock it because Cristal, Dom Perignon and Krug are the three names the prestige champagne shelf is judged on. Missing any one of them gets noticed.
750 mL12.0%7.1 std
$529.99
Reims, Champagne · France
We stock it because it is number four in the state and the only one of the four brought in by ALM's own import arm rather than a brand company, which usually shows in what we can buy it for.
750 mL12.0%7.1 std
$72.99
Reims, Champagne · France
We stock it because it is number three in the state on 16.3%, and because it is the point where champagne stops being two brands and starts being a category.
750 mL12.0%7.1 std
$70.99
Champagne · France
We stock it because it is number two in the state on 21.45% of the segment, and because between it and Moet, half of all champagne sold in New South Wales is one of these two bottles.
750 mL12.0%7.1 std
$97.99
Champagne · France
We stock it because it holds 27.41% of the champagne segment in New South Wales - more than one bottle in four - and because for most people this bottle is what the word champagne means.
750 mL12.0%7.1 std
$82.99
