Would you buy expensive fizz for guests who usually drink champagne?

[Paveparadiseputupaparkinglot]

We are hosting next weekend for two couples. They both drink a lot! We often go to theirs and one couple in particular likes expensive champagne! Now I love champagne but am equally happy with sparkling wine and Cremant. They do have more money than us so can afford to splash out more but would you get some fancy fizz in knowing they were coming?

Also how much other alcohol and what kind would you get?

We are doing a BBQ and there’s four kids too aged 7-10.

Lidl cremant is delicious. I'd get a couple of bottles of that and then stock up on Sainsbury's brut cava (less sweet than Prosecco so tastes more like champagne which tends to be dry). Or get a bottle of champagne to start with and then switch them onto the cava.

You don't, so they can jolly well drink what you provide, and be grateful.

This.
Pimm’s is always good as well. I’d also offer beer and g&t and you’ll be good to go.

So? You’re their friend! Not a hotel…

I love champagne but I think it’s an odd drink to serve at a bbq . Sausage in a bun with champagne , no not really . I’d go with Cremant , lager shandy and soft drinks eg sparkling elderflower cordial .

I’d serve whatever I could afford (personally there is a bottle of Cremant I find far nicer than Champagne) Maybe make something like a Hugo Spritz and Pimms which is very festive

I would buy what I could afford. If I could afford one really good bottle then cremant then I would probably do that as a treat. I definitely wouldn't buy prosecco or similar if I know they prefer other things. I genuinely hate prosecco so would rather drink water than prosecco. I love champagne but would also happily drink cava or cremant or sparkling wine. So I would buy what you know they will like but I certainly wouldn't be overspending or getting into debt to keep up with their spending habits.

I don’t like champagne, much prefer Prosecco. They get given whatever you serve, don’t overthink it.

Cremant is just as respected as Champagne in France - Blanquette de Limoux predates Champagne by about a century.

You could also -horror!- get some prosecco in to make spritzes - limoncello, Hugo, aperol or peach.

I live in Kent so am a big fan of English sparkling wines - Nyetimber, Chapel Down, Gusborne and Chartham plus the new Tattinger/Domaine Evremond - but they can be as expensive as champagne.

If they like to drink expensive champagne then a bottle of cremant is going to be disappointing, so do something different. Jugs of Pimms is ideal with a BBQ and then bottles of red/white with the meal. But don't invite a negative comparison with a cheap bottle of fizz.

OP, if your friends are wine drinkers, don’t bother with Pimms, and do get Crémant. Crémant de Limoux is the original Crémant (according to them, it pre-dates champagne - we went to the Caves in Limoux). Sainsbury’s Crémant de Limoux is £12.25 a bottle, but all of their crémants are nice. Again, if your friends are champagne drinkers, they will prefer Crémant to Prosecco or Cava.

I’m a self confessed wine wanker and love champagne.

However, if you were hosting me I would not expect you to provide anything special. If I was worried you wouldn’t have anything I’d be happy to drink, I’d bring my own. I’d ask you if there was anything I could bring…. Eg wine??

If they drink champagne for every event, they sound like they actually haven't got a clue about wine and only care about the name. I would be willing to bet you could even put a champagne label on prosecco and they wouldn't even know the difference.

In this case, I’d make it a BYOB event.

It’s a large leg of lamb on the bbq 😂 not that it makes any difference as I do agree! Just going by what they do at theirs but I am going to be brave and be myself and serve what I like! (Can afford!)

Oh, I’ve just noticed your username - and felt a vast wave of nostalgia wash over me, @Paveparadiseputupaparkinglot!😂

I used to buy champagne until about 5 years ago, when at Christmas my father brought some Cremant and PIL brought some vintage Cava. We did a side by side blind taste test between the 3 for fun (partly as I was sure the champagne would win).

The Cava won hands down with everyone with the cremant a very close second. It was a quarter of the price of the champagne I’d bought as was the cremant.

At the end of the day champagne is just another sparkling wine - it’s just been effectively marketed as “the most premium/prestigious” - and people fall into the trap (like me previously) of thinking it must be better.

So no, I wouldn’t buy it anymore for myself or other people. I now simply consider it a total waste of money and I doubt very many people in a blind taste test -like we did- would notice the difference or even prefer it.