California CHAMPAGNE

[tommy]

Mark, I totally agree with you...it DOES suck...however...there's a whole lot of people out there that can't afford better or arent' educated about other types of sparkling wines that are comparably priced.

i think it's more of an education and taste issue, than a cost issue. prosecco is clearly a "better" product (by many standards), and usually cheaper than korbel. however, most people buy 1 bottle of champagne a year (and maybe 3 bottles of wine a year) and really don't put a lot of thought into it. i'd guess that this is Korbel's market.

i'll also add that it's a decent enough jumping off point for young people. at least it was for me, as i drank a lot of it in college (although there weren't a lot of options back then, and it was clearly a better choice than martini and rossi asti spumante).

and if you get a bottle as a gift, don't throw it out or re-gift it. just save it for mimosas.

Edited December 29, 2003 by tommy (log)

[NVNVGirl]

Is anyone else tired of seeing Korbel "Champagne" commercials on TV yet? I swear every second one seems to be from this house. The Bolla commercials have been getting heavy rotation too.

I haven't even seen one ad for Korbel. In this area, it's that damned milk commercial with the little kid with the peanut butter on the spoon and the dog...and they play it like every station break during the morning news.....no wonder that ANNOYING music keeps popping up in my head!

[tommy]

i can't help but think that there's a voiceover in that bolla commercial.

i'm surprised no one on egullet has mentioned the ads for hard liquor. seems they're just starting to come out (at least around here). i wonder if they'll make their presence known during the super bowl?

[Carema]

Some windbag was in the shop the other night telling me that apparently somehow Spain got away with calling things Champagne too. Korbel does, and will always suck. It sucked in 1985 when it was the heavist acse a small stock girl could manage and it still sucks now that I do not have to stock it.

at the very least, cava is made following the methode champenoise. i'm not sure about Korbel, though.

Both Cava and Korbel are made by the traditional methode champenois.

I learned something about Cava! Thanks....

[bobferdon]

Criag,

In Gallos defense, they don't use thompson seedless in anything. I can't say that for others.

I had a retailer who would do blind tastings almost every year for staff and good customers. Andre Extra Dry beat Korbel every year.

[Craig Camp]

Welcome to eGullet Bob.

OK Thompson Seedless was a cynical overstatement. Has Korbel really sunk that low? I admit I have not tasted it in years.

[Susan in FL]

I like Andre Extra Dry, too. I hesitated to say that, after reading some of the reactions to Korbel. Just kidding... I know what I like and I'm quite happy with my palate. For cheap, we like Andre Extra Dry, Korbel "Chardonnay Champagne," and Freixenet Extra Dry. For a slight step up, we like good Prosecco, Moet & Chandon White Star, Iron Horse, and Schramsberg. We don't get above that price range often enough to have declared favorites beyond.

Taste for wine and knowledge about it is so relative. Among most of our friends and colleagues, we are thought of as fine wine connoiseurs. People ask us for suggestions and ideas for food and wine matches all the time. But here, among this group, I feel very much an amateur.

[beans]

i can't help but think that there's a voiceover in that bolla commercial.

i'm surprised no one on egullet has mentioned the ads for hard liquor.  seems they're just starting to come out (at least around here).  i wonder if they'll make their presence known during the super bowl?

Despite the many misgivings I have about particular FTV programming, I tend to have it on in the background of whatever I'm trying to accomplish around the house. The Korbel and Bolla ads have become unbearable prompting the change of channel or switching to music in an escape effort. I suppose those ads will diminish as the Holiday season passes.

Although I have seen and wondered about posting regarding the recent liquor ads. Amaretto di Saranno has always been on throughout QE because they are a sponsor for the show. I enjoy the Grey Goose holiday with the festive goose for cute factor (The motivation for my short lived grey cat adorned with a red bow, holiday avatar). There is a third one (and probably others I haven't seen yet--isn't there one for Kahlua?) but I cannot think of who it is -- some pretty woman getting into a taxi or some such. (Wherein this demonstrates failure upon the ads' creators -- I, the consumer, do not remember the product ).

Back to the topic.

Christmas morning, my mother served Korbel's Chard "Champagne" in mimosas as we opened our gifts. She is the three times a year "champagne" purchasing consumer.

[HungryChris]

I do not pretend to know much about champagne or "domestic champangne", but I do know that when the wedding of my sister became an issue, my father decided that rather than having an open bar, he wanted to serve just "domestic champagne". He went on a quest to determine what the best one was ( this was in the early eighties) and Korbel came up the winner. It was at that ceremony that I first tasted the stuff and frankly, I liked it and still do!

Call it what you will, I really don't think it sucks. I am quite fond of it, but then again, I am one of those folks who buy the bubbly only once a year at most.

[Bux]

Korbel is small potatoes in the "Champagne" name stealing game and at least they attempt a decent product and use methode champenoise and classic grape varieties to make it.

The Gallo company and others produces a vast ocean of wines called champagne that use plastic corks and are likely made from Thompson Seedless and French Colombard or whatever else happens to by lying around the winery.

Have the annual Andre ads started yet?

I haven't had Korbel in a long time. When I last had it, I was under the impression that it had a fairly good reputation in its price range. I'm one of the (few?) people who just stopped buying it because they were one of the few domestic sparkling wines in their price range that used "Champagne" on their label. The competition ensured I did not have to spite myself to act on principle. Moreover, they had more competition from imports at that price range. I prefer the idea of a real Cava to a pretend Champagne.

We'll have none of this cork snobbery however. According to Frank Prial in the NY Times, Bonny Doon will be using screw tops on all of its wines this year.

I assume all cheese made in Switzerland is Swiss cheese. Not all of it is Emmenthaler, although Wisconsin Swiss cheese most closely tries to imitate Emmenthaler.

[Pan]

I assume all cheese made in Switzerland is Swiss cheese.

Ah, but is all cheese made in America American cheese?