Goodbye Champagne Nicholas Feuillatte

[M&PGermany]

... it's MONTAUDON from now on!

[Tillylovesseabourn]

Oooh, and is it an Improvement ( we all know that wouldn't be hard)?

[machotspur]

It appears to be stocked by Majestic in the UK -

 

https://www.majestic.co.uk/champagne/montaudon-brut-22003

 

.. and gets some pretty good reviews both there and on various other internet review sites.

 

Promising !

[janerlve]

NV Montaudon Brut is one of the cheapest champagnes you can buy. Same champagne been served on Celebrity. Not a step up from Nicholas Feuillatte IMO.

 

[DCCruiser57]

Nicholas gets a rating of 3.7 on Vivino at a cost of $23.99 and Montaudon Brut gets a rating of 3.9 at a cost of $34.99. 

[galeforce9]

Hmmm

[rols]

I do hope this doesn't turn out to be a case of 'being careful what you wish for'. Never minded the NF myself, last cruise I barely drank anything else (apart from sparkling water). Sure the new one will be ok too. I don't expect free flow Moet for the price SB charges. 

 

PS where was this announced? 

[machotspur]

1 hour ago, DCCruiser57 said:

Nicholas gets a rating of 3.7 on Vivino at a cost of $23.99 and Montaudon Brut gets a rating of 3.9 at a cost of $34.99. 

DCCruiser57 - this is useful thank you.

 

To build a little more.

 

Not that I know much about reviewing wine but Vivino appears to be a very well visited site, with the sample size of reviewers very significant e.g the Montaudon rating of 3.9 comes from over 6,000 reviewers.

 

The Vivivo site categorises a rating of 4.0 with a no nonsense descriptor of 'very good stuff'.

 

Moet gets 4.1,

Tattinger also 4.1

Mountaudon 3.9

 

So - i'm not a statistician (or wine guru !) but a very large number of people on Vivino appear to rate Montaudon almost as highly as a couple of well known non vintage Champagnes ! 

 

Frequently in international wine competitions, lowly priced wines knock more established (and expensive !) brands out of sight, and claim the medals. The price on a supermarket shelf is rarely an accurate indicator IMHO.

 

I'm looking forward to trying the new champagne, as all the indicators I see are pretty positive.      

[M&PGermany]

27 minutes ago, rols said:

I do hope this doesn't turn out to be a case of 'being careful what you wish for'. Never minded the NF myself, last cruise I barely drank anything else (apart from sparkling water). Sure the new one will be ok too. I don't expect free flow Moet for the price SB charges. 

 

PS where was this announced? 

 

It was not announced, I believe, but since I just spent a few days on Odyssey I was surprised to see M instead of NF. It's a nice champagne in my oppinion but will -- of course -- never reach the level of a vintage champagne (or a Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle or Cuvee Louise for example), nor will Moet by the way. To be honest, with all the NV champagnes I dont see a very big difference. For a free flow champagne it was lovely and the secret to it is:  more you drink the less you will notice any difference...

[M&PGermany]

2 minutes ago, machotspur said:

DCCruiser57 - this is useful thank you.

 

To build a little more.

 

Not that I know much about reviewing wine but Vivino appears to be a very well visited site, with the sample size of reviewers very significant e.g the Montaudon rating of 3.9 comes from over 6,000 reviewers.

 

The Vivivo site categorises a rating of 4.0 with a no nonsense descriptor of 'very good stuff'.

 

Moet gets 4.1,

Tattinger also 4.1

Mountaudon 3.9

 

So - i'm not a statistician (or wine guru !) but a very large number of people on Vivino appear to rate Montaudon almost as highly as a couple of well known non vintage Champagnes ! 

 

 

 

I totally agree. It is all about marketing anyway. Experienced sommeliers in fine dining Michelin star restaurants would never suggest these champagne brands anyway as they prefer small and not very well known wineries in general. Also, keep in mind, that there are many Proseccos, Cavas and German Riesling sparklings out there who are priced much higher than the average champagne...

[B-HQC]

Not sure, but the NF was already gone on a cruise last month. Personally I think the Montaudon is a slight improvement as it's less acidic but really it's down to personal preference. And don't get too excited, the distributor cost of either Champagne is well under €20 and would typically not be served in any 5-star hospitality environment, but with the volumes consumed on Seabourn I understand, upgrading to a lower-mid range Champagne like Perrier Jouet would cost 30% more.

 

Personally I am not happy with most of the Complimentary Wine List but there is always something drinkable (such as the La Scolca Gavi), and with the amount of OBCs being given out plus the Club discount, I can easily order a mid-range bottle of wine every night and be even at the end of the cruise. Combined with fares being meaningfully lower than a couple of years ago, I really can't complain!

[Gercru]

FWIW:

In Germany, prices for Montaudon range from 41 Euros  (same region as Moet or Taittinger) down to less than 20 Euros!

[JK300]

Montaudon is also served on the Oceania ships. It is a very average champagne IMO.

[Les Picantins]

I hope this is true as Montaudon was the included champagne on Regent a few years ago and is a better choice, however, sometimes Seabourn has a different selection for a special event and will continue to offer it until the stock is consumed. Is it possible that they brought on a different brand for the GP event? Time will tell.

[brittany12]

Disappointing to me. NF was always  a very good and dependable true champagne. Lovely taste we enjoyed drinking many bottles of over the last decade.  High acclaim from people who know champagne. Go to your local wine shop or even the big ones and try to find Montaudon on the shelves. Maybe it has a new marketing presence. Personally I have never seen it served anywhere and not familiar with its taste. Or seen it written up in wine magazines. It might be lovely too, so its unfair to criticize early on. I'm surprised it took this long for Seabourn to switch out champagnes. $. Thats what these champagne auction changes all lines go through every few years is all about.  Not quality for the consuming passenger as much as it is the best pricing  they can find from the bidding houses to better control their costs. Especially when its  free onboard and flowing freely. If its not so good as the complimentary 'House" champagne, it may drive more people on board to buy a more premium brand.  NF could easily  be back some day when the champagne contract is again up for renewal

[vistaman]

On ‎6‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 7:17 PM, JK300 said:

Montaudon is also served on the Oceania ships. It is a very average champagne IMO.

I agree Montaudon is not a great Champagne -

Oceania changed to Germain at 16 $ a glass

[JK300]

31 minutes ago, vistaman said:

I agree Montaudon is not a great Champagne -

Oceania changed to Germain at 16 $ a glass

When did they changed it?

[markham]

Oceania?  Who asked about them and their per glass champagne prices?

 

If I were interested in how a “luxury-lite” line like Oceania prices its bar service I would go to their website. Seabourn all-inclusive just suits me better, though.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[kowhairob]

Oh well I will stick to my Rusty Nail and let my wife tell me how good or bad the new champagne is . Too be honest the NF was a dependable drink with a lot of nice notes .

[Prunella1]

We are on the Encore and the champagne.being served is still.NF.

[Mauzac]

21 hours ago, vistaman said:

I agree Montaudon is not a great Champagne -

Oceania changed to Germain at 16 $ a glass

 

$16 a glass?  😮

 

That's why I cruise with SB!  I like my champagne and often drink it as kir royale with NF; I'm sure Montaudon will suit me just fine!

[clarky]

We had the Montaudon on a Regent cruise and it was more to my liking than NF.  Next Regent cruise was Germain and it was just awful.  Had one glass and would not have another.  Last Regent cruise we had Piper Heidsieck.  Hope they have the Montaudon on our cruise with Seabourn in September.

[auldlassie]

Oh dear! I live in both UK and France. In both countries Montaudon is considered a very basic and cheap champagne, as is NF. Both pretty thin and acidic. Even Moet would be considered a step up from either. This is a poor effort from Seabourn. 

 

Yes, Monaudon was served on Oceania at same time as the marginally better Jacquart Mosaique.

 

[2SailingNomads]

And good riddance IMO.  BTW, I never heard of the MONTAUDON but was never a fan of the NF.  FWIW where I live NF is about $40 retail.  Of course where everyone lives it will be different and not the wholesale price.  I had a discussion w/ a senior SB executive a few years ago about the champagne and he told me the problem is finding a good supplier who can reliably provide enough product at a price point that works.  There were, for those of you who remember, various rumors a couple / three years ago about a change that never happened and it was apparently due to the lack of reliable supply, and not the price.

[sananda]

I was at my local Total Wine yesterday and took a look in the Champagne aisle.  Montaudon is the second least expensive Champagne I saw on the shelves ($34.99).  Nicolas Feuillatte was the cheapest ($31.99).  The third least expensive choice was priced at $39.99 for a 750 ml bottle.  These are bottom of the barrel choices.

 

People occasionally post Seabourn's  complimentary wine list.  Looking at the list, it is abundantly obvious that the only thing Seabourn cares about is the price of the wine.  There is no attempt to find hidden gems.  No attempt to coordinate with the chefs to find wines that best compliment the dishes being served.  No attempt to serve wines local to the places you are visiting.  Seabourn consistently selects the least expensive wine they can source for every category they want to serve.

 

To anyone that knows anything about wine and appreciates good wine, the complimentary list is abysmal.  The choice to go cheap with all their selections completely undermines Seabourn's attempt to market themselves as a "luxury" experience.