If one is lucky enough to have friends who just happen to bring over a bottle of very respectable Champagne for no particular reason other than its saturday, that is a very good thing.  But when one’s friends sail over that bar, and bring said Champagne on a bed of ice… damn.  I could still remember the simple, crisp taste of the Veuve de Vernay when we opened this, and wow is this a whole new world of complexity.  Apparently this is a lighter-bodied Champagne.  Word.  I would definitely seek this out.  Dunno what the “Grand” implies in “Grand Brut”.  I think the dosage is the same as a Brut.

I’m having nostalgia for the days when I couldn’t tell Chateau Margaux from Mouton Cadet.  With Champagne and its less famous, non-regionally branded comrades, “hhiigh hhknow hhnu-theeng”.  Except, that this bottle was light, tasty and worth going back for seconds.  I need a crash course in bubbly before I open the bottle of vintage ‘98 Billecart-Salmon we received as a gift!  Off to a good start.

paid: $10

scored: - (no basis for score, but I’d buy it again)

This was officially the first wine we encountered on our honeymoon (I can’t count the California red we shared in the airport bar before our red-eye flight, nor the vin de Pays d’Oc that Air France served us).  Complimentary from our hotel in Lisboa!  I later saw it on wine lists for about 16 Euro, so figure your run-of-the-mill $10 sparkle.  But after a looong flight, and sitting on that deck with my bride — it might as well have been a ‘53 Dom Perignon.