[Groesbeck Hurricane]

It also boils down to people's tastes. Everyone wants to say they are drinking the best stuff around. Truth be told, I enjoyed Korbel Brut much more than Dom Perignon or Cristal or even Dom's little brother Moet & Chandon (which I seemed to appreciate more than the expensive stuff). Heck, I actually preferred Korbel to most other sparkling wines (champaignes).

Not everyone can fully appreciate the expensive stuff and sometimes it is just hype. Some of my family who could drink the most expensive choose a much cheaper item as they prefer it. Sorry, I cannot remember the name, it might be nothing more than a friends brew, and do not even know if they export it from France. I remember it having a VERY plain label and looking a bit crude as in not mass produced. By the way, it made Korbel taste like swill ;-)

Questions seem to become:

Have you tasted several different brands/types?

True Champaigne comes only from a specific region of France (by law), the rest are just sparkling wine (including California's Korbel).

Are you going to impress and diminish your bank account or are you going for selection in mid-range where people could sample different bottles?


I've been to happy parties where they were serving Mad Dog, local shine, cheap whiskey, and skeeter repellant!!! (grew up in SE Texas and I've lived in Louisiana)