Champagne for Toasting?

Lisax4156 · April 2014

Hi all,

I'm getting married June 7th and I'm looking for some champagne for a toast. So, what's some good, but cheap champagne? Also, how many bottles will I need for about 45 people?

Thanks

ohannabelle · April 2014

You get 5-6 glasses per bottle, so 10 is a safe bet. I'd go for the full case of 12 just to be safe, and you often get a discount. Do you have a Trader Joe's near you? Or a Total Wine? Go in and chat with them, they can steer you to something within your budget that makes you happy.

LondonLisa · April 2014

Prosecco and cava also tend to be cheaper than champagne. I prefer good cava to cheap champagne.

Also, the champagne toast is not necessary and in a lot of cases can be an unnecessary expense. A lot of people aren't champagne drinkers, and those that are tend to not like cheap champagne (it can be very, very sweet instead of dry since inexpensive champagne isn't aged as long) so they don't finish the glass. People can toast with what they have in front of them. I am a champagne drinker, and I would prefer no champagne to cheap champagne (its like whiskey, don't have it just to "have it" and most whiskey drinkers would prefer nothing over Jack Daniels neat).

But if I were in you shoes and you absolutely wanted a sparking wine toast- I would definitely go with a good prosecco or cava (it is cheaper than champagne).

emmyg65 · April 2014

We had "champagne" available at the bar with other beverages so people could drink it if they like it, or toast with whatever they had if they don't. That way, no champagne was wasted!

I put it in quote marks because it was sparkling white wine made in the U.S., not actual Champagne.

ElcaB · April 2014

Cook's is usually pretty cheap.

ohannabelle · April 2014

Everything @LondonLisa said. My daughter's having a nice dry Prosecco, and it's light and crisp and bubbly, and only about 7 dollars a bottle. Very very cheap champagne is vile- like bubbly corn syrup and soda with a little vinegar thrown in. I went to a wedding where the guests were given a glass of Andre for the toast (blech) but the wedding party at their table were being served a Veuve Clicquot . Still pissed off at the rudeness, ten years later.

Lisax4156 · April 2014

Thanks everyone for the help I appreciate it!

Since I"m not a wine or champagne drinker, I have no idea what to look for!

What do you guys think of Korbel Brut? I was browsing my local wine store and saw a wine called Rondel Brut Cava. I've been looking around and it looks like it's gotten pretty good reviews across the board.
What do you all think?

theartistformerlyknownas · April 2014

I have to ask... if you're not a wine or champagne drinker, why the need for a champagne/sparkling wine toast? I do love a good cava, but I much prefer to toast with whatever I'm drinking. It's especially unnecessary if you're on a budget... even our venue coordinator (aka guy trying to sell more booze) said people typically take a sip from a champagne toast and abandon their glass. Why waste it?

(Note: only sparkling wines from the Champagne region of France are allowed to be called champagne. Cava is a sparkling wine varietal from Spain.)

LondonLisa · April 2014

Yeah, I agree with lolo, if you are not a wine drinker, why have the sparkling wine toast? It seems like a very unnecessary expense. If I were in your shoes, I would save that money and upgrade somewhere else. No one will miss it, and if you have sparkling wine available at the bar, people can always get that.

Korbel isn't champagne (it is sparking wine- champagne can only come from the Champagne region in France) and is known for being a budget sparkling wine.

freebread03 · April 2014

I'd actually go with a Prosecco (my personal fave is about $9 per bottle, so very budget friendly). I don't know if the Safeway near you sells Prosecco, or another store does a similar deal, but buy 6 or more and it ends up just a little less than $9.

wandajune6 · April 2014

I'm drawing a blank on the name but there's a great French bubbly at Costco that's about $10. It's got a yellow label and it's one of their more popular options. I can look it up when I go there this wekeend.

Otherwise, I love prosecco and usually have a few bottles in the house. Kroger and it's stores of other names do volume discounts as do places like Binny's.

I've never been a fan of cheap champagne but there are great bubbly options available on a budget!

LarraO2530 · April 2014

I love Cupcake brand, I tried their Prosecco because my liquor store was out of my Moscato D'Asti and I loved it! In DE there's no sales tax, so it runs about $11-13 depending on which store you end up in, but they're all liquor stores here, no walmarts or safeways.

atlastmrsg · April 2014

ElcaB said:

Cook's is usually pretty cheap.

Cook's, J Roget, Andre...all of those are really cheap because they're really awful. Dreadfully awful. Listen to the posts about a proseco or cava instead--all really good thoughts.

vulpiepop · April 2014

It depends on what you mean by "champagne". Real champagne only comes from that town in France, all others are considered sparkling wines and will be much cheaper. The flavor depends on the brand but most likely no one will notice the difference if you use sparkling wine over champagne. If you're set on real champagne, go for non-vintage. Non-vintage champagnes are much cheaper and, again, most likely no one will know the difference. You can get 5 or 6 flutes of champagne/sparkling wine per bottle and it's better to have too much than not enough so 10 or 11 bottles (the extra as a just in case measure) should do for 45 people.

Lisax4156 · April 2014

Thanks everyone for your replies! The $10 bottle of Prosecco is really good and I can see why everyone drinks it.
I also have another bottle of sparkling wine that we're thinking of using. It's the Martini & Rossi Asti. My fiance likes that, and I like Prosecco.. so we'll see how this goes lol

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