Easy Champagne Quality Test
After sampling, leave some in your glass for a few hours to warm up and go flat. If it still tastes good in this state, the chances are it is good.
Oddbins On Champagne
This is a nifty little guide, filled with useful lore and a membership card for the Oddbins Bubble Club, entitling members to a 15 per cent discount off all champagne purchases of two bottles or more. £3 well spent
Tip For The Top
Krug 1988 was the undisputed king among the bottles poured at a grand dinner hosted by Olivier Krug the other week in Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud. Still very youthful (purists might save it for another midnight), but with a wonderfully bracing, mineral firmness - if you have £100 or so to spare.
Champagnes Unlimited
This is a new company set up by three Dublin women who are importing from a trio of producers - Michel Arnould, Camille Saves and A. R. Lenoble - and selling direct. Prices £19.99-£26.99 - phone (01) 4968151, fax (01) 4968152, email ahennon@indigo.ie
Bottle Variation
. . . or how the same, non-vintage champagne can cost up to £30 more in one place than another: Champagne Louis Roederer Brut Premier - retail price usually about £29 - is £34 in Isaacs Cork £39.50 in O'Connells Ballsbridge £41.50 in Dish Temple Bar £48 in Sheen Falls Lodge Kenmare £58 in the Shelbourne Hotel £60 in Thorntons Portobello £65 in The Commons, St Stephen's Green