The Elegance of Chandon Rosé Without the French Price Tag

Hey, domain, dave, cheapwinefindercom, the last of the podcast of 2024. Last of our holiday extravaganza of sorts. It's a bubbly, it's a wine I got at Target of all places, it's the Chandon California Brut Rose. It sells from between and I've seen it as low as $16, $15, but not this holiday season. Prices didn't drop. I think. I picked it up for $18.99, and I've seen it at a size 23,. So it's, you know it's in that price range, which isn't a bad price range for a bubbly from a very famous French champagne house.

Speaker 1:
0:49

Shandong California was the first of the French outposts in California. That happened, I think, in 1973, so they've been doing it for a long, long time. Both Moet Chandon and Chandon California are owned by LVHM I think I got the initials right A luxury brand company. Who they do? Louis Vuitton, kohlhager, ager, auer. Who else? They do Just everybody. They do Hennessy, they do Auerbeg. I mean half the premium brands out there they do. I've got links to that on the website for the review. But this is from a high-end, very good brand and Moet Chandon, if you're going to be drinking bubbly, is as good as any of them.

Speaker 1:
1:48

But in California this is a little bit different Because most of the other French wine houses in California. They're Napa or Sonoma, it's just California on the label. They don't care, they just they don't care. Which usually means because there's two major ABAs North Coast, which is Sonoma, napa, mendocino, a couple of small ones and then you got Central Coast, monterey, santa Barbara, paso Robles. Those are the major ones. And then there's like Lodi and Clarksburg are the independents kind of Lodi and Clarksburg are the independents kind of. So if you have enough grapes from the North Coast and you mix in some Central Coast, well then you've got to put California on the label. If you have grapes from Sonoma and you have some from Napa, well then you can do North Coast on the label. So that basically means they went into the Central Coast to get some grapes. Monterey, santa Barbara, I'm not sure Some places.

Speaker 1:
2:46

That does Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and this is 57% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir and just a little bit 3% Pinot Mouinet, which are the three main grapes for Champagne Mounais, which are the three main grapes for champagne. One thing that's interesting is there's not a word of champagne on the label, because it's sparkling wine. It can only be champagne if it's from Champagne France. This isn't, so I'm going to take a sip. Sip, it's good, that's really good. It's really light in the palate. It hits your palate and kind of almost disappears, meaning you need to be like really low, low, low sugar levels to do that. But this is one's just as a very delicate and this is this hits way better than I thought it would.

Speaker 1:
3:50

If this drinks really well, I tend to like a champagne with a lot of pinot noir in there. It rounds it off. The chardonnay ones got really crisp and I like those too. But if I have my choice between one or the other, I grab one with a good deal of Pinot Noir in there. This drink's great for under $20 from a French winemaker, because Moet Chandon does have their winemakers. I have the winemakers that do all this and they follow the instructions. One thing that is different here is that in France the minimum amount of triage, second fermentation that's where the bubbles are put in there. Each and every bottle they pour the first fermentation in there, add some yeast, add some sugar, measured amounts and then in France they come back 18 months later and pull out the yeast.

Speaker 1:
4:44

In California it's only 12 months, so it's less, and the longer the second triage fermentation, the more smooth and creamy it gets. But one thing I was thinking about is California might need only 12. You know, like Tennessee, kentucky, bourbon is usually typically aged four to six years, something like that for the regular bottlings, scotch 12. I mean, and even more, it's because it's kind of hot in Kentucky and it's kind of cold in Scotland and Champagne Francis way colder in California. I'm going to take another sip, so 12 months might do the job just as quick as the 18 months did, because this is a smooth. There's a little bit of cream to it, not super creamy, but it's there. It sips well.

Speaker 1:
5:44

It's a really nice wine one. I've had a bunch of really nice bubbly's this year. Everything everybody was a little bit different. Everybody was very nice. This is, this is a seamless package. This is. Whoever made this knew if they were doing. So there you go. This is the Shandong California Brut Rose. It's a non, non-vintage wine. You can get it between $20 and $15. Well, if you rush out, there's got to be sales right now and it's well worth buying if you want something for the holidays. It's a nice package. Shandong yeah, it's California, but at half the price. Who needs the French stuff? Right? I mean, I still like the French stuff, but this one hits pretty hard for the price. So, adios, keep it cheap, have a happy new year. I'll catch you on the other side. It'll start up all over again in 2025. So, stay safe, stay warm and keep it cheap, and I'll be talking to you. Bye-bye.