I’ve already mentioned how prosecco isn’t really one of my favorite sparkling wines, but at the same time champagne prices are typically not cheap.
So, when I came across this cheap French sparkling wine at Costo, I really thought I’d found something special.
With a price of just $8.89 a bottle (June 2022), I thought that I’d just found the world’s cheapest champagne.
But note that the label on the bottle doesn’t actually say that it’s champagne.
That’s because technically, it’s not champagne because only sparkling wine actually made in Champagne can be labeled as champagne.
So, while this is not officially a bottle of champagne, the designation of “Méthode Traditionnelle” tells us that this sparkling wine is essentially champagne because it is made the same way as “real” champagne.
Obviously, this was something that I learned after buying it since I did initially think it was just cheap Costco champagne.
You’ll note that the fancy design of the label on the bottle looks a lot like most bottles of champagne – except you get it at prosecco prices!
Of course, the price doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t live up to the hype, or at least to my expectations.
My Initial Thoughts
After running out of my bottle of Kirkland Signature Asolo Prosecco Superiore, I still had some orange juice that needed to be turned into mimosas.
Fortunately, I already had this bottle of François Montand sparkling wine on hand.
Though, truthfully, I was hesitant to waste a French sparkling wine on mimosas since I expected it to taste quite good.
But alas, that would be the fate of this bottle.
First sip of this François Montand Blanc de Blancs Brut was a good one.
Lots of bubbles and a nice flavor of green apple on the palate, with just a bit of citrus.
My first though was that it tastes a lot like a French Crémant, which is the go-to for cheap sparkling wine in our house because Crémant tends to be cheaper than champagne…and almost as good (in our opinion).
I lated learned that Crémant is the French word used to signify French sparkling wines that are not champagne but are made using the traditional method (Méthode Traditionnelle).
And, now I know why l like Crémant so much!
Anyways, since the François Montand Brut was good by itself, I already knew that it would be good with the orange juice.
So, no surprise that it did, in fact, make a great mimosa.
Over at Vivino, it currently has a rating of 3.6/5 from over 5,500 reviews.
For us, this sparkling wine is a definite ‘yes’ for any kind of drinking that calls for sparkling wine.
With a price of $8.89, this is a great value for the money.
However, I should note that this is not as good as Kirkland Signature champagne, but it does ring in at half the cost.
I think at our house we will buy this when we have company or will be sharing our bubbly with others, and stick with the Kirkland Signature champagne from Costco for our exclusive use.
No one has to know we’re serving the cheap stuff, especially when it tastes this good!