Not a drinker so I’d pass on buying it regardless of the price. That said whenever I see things that are over the top expensive, the first thing that pops into my head is gee, how many people or abused animals could that have helped. Seems selfish to me.

I would love to try it.

I buy wine at Aldi for 2.95 a bottle. So I doubt I would ever pay that much, just pee out later.

I drink very very little. I could not see paying a premium price like that for something I enjoy so little.

I'll have Dr. Pepper.

We always have champagne or prosecco for mimosas So I certainly wouldn’t waste that money on thoses, even if we DO use the fresh-squeezed from a particular grocery store.

Nope, not a champagne fan here either but even so I'd rather spend that $796.00 on 16 bottles of a cheaper $50 brand.

Nope, I'm pretty frugal, and I wouldn't spend my money on something that frivolous. I rarely drink, and it's usually a mixed drink.

Champagne gives me a headache -- just one glass is too much. There are few whites that I like anyway. We aren't wine drinkers -- just a cocktail before dinner; bourbon or gin for me. *Water* is good with dinner.

arcy_gw

No. I can't imagine a consumable I would pay that much for. I often wonder what it feels like to be in the skin of the person who could make that purchase and never look back.

~~~

It's all so relative. If I were a multi millionaire I might buy it just to see if I could tell the difference between that and a 50 dollar champagne. But it's just like me taking taxi rides when some of my friends can barely afford rent. Or like me having my groceries delivered -- I don't know the price until it appears on my credit card statement. I opt for that rather than risk going into the store during Covid. I'm doing that while most of my friends are still going to various stores and comparing prices. I look like an extravagant millionaire to some people.

I often wonder what it feels like to be in the skin of the person who could make that purchase and never look back.

That statement is so shallow and judgmental, while totally lacking in self awareness, that it boggles the mind.

All Westerners are living in glass houses on this score.

You mean you've never wondered what it would be like to win the powerball? Really?

Chisue? Funny, it gives me a headache too..even less than a glass. I talked

to a Dr., friend about it once when we were at a New Year's End Party. He

said, "oh, I can fix that". I said, "wow, what should I be doing?" He said, "stop

drinking it". Groaner. Not too funny..but a great Dr. LOL

No, never. Don't like alcohol. I would give the money to St. Jude's, or some other charity where it would do some good.

Def. not - I don't care for champagne either - in fact I don't much care for any wine. It gives me headaches too.

I wouldn’t and I love champagne. We were given a bottle of DP for an anniversary one year from the hotel in Vegas. It was delicious.

I agree with bleusblue and zalco. Everyone has different spending patterns and even when looking laterally between people of similar means, everyone makes their own decisions about how to spend their money. And usually differently so. It isn't teed up for anyone to pass judgement on.

Are people with above average income and means, expected to spend their money and live their lives like people of below average means? Or are people with greatly well above average means violating some rule by not spending like people of only average means? No, of course not.

That said whenever I see things that are over the top expensive, the first thing that pops into my head is gee, how many people or abused animals could that have helped. Seems selfish to me.

Selfish on whose part?

We enjoy champagne occasionally but not for $796!!!

My opinion of DP is it's okay...definitely not worth the price to me. Plenty of nice champagne for far less. We have a bottle of Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut for tonight. We like it for special occasions...just personal taste. I'm also happy with Freixenet Brut...around $9 at TJ's. Top preference for me is a nice glass of Pinot Grigo.

"At one family reunion, our SIL (wine salesman) set up a blind taste test (18 adult tasters) with many different champagnes. The winner was Cooke’s Brut (8.99) with Korbel (12.00) a close second. Dom was 3rd, Cristal was 4th. Andre (4.99) was last."

I'm going to guess what this wine salesman (not sure what SIL means) was demonstrating was that most people don't have enough experience or ability to taste the difference between different product qualities. Not to demonstrate that they're the same, they're clearly not.

Prices reflect quality to a point. They also reflect demand and that can be managed with advertising and cultivated luxury-goods hype. "Luxury brands" that have been managed as such often command a premium without warranting it. One of Dom Perignon's selling features is that the brand is vintage dated. That's magic in the great years and disaster in poor years. Others who have reserves of good quality to blend with poor year harvests will produce a superior tasting product at such times and even at average times. Poor years are perhaps more frequent than great years so reach your own conclusions. I've had very good examples and pretty disappointing examples too of Dom Perignon at different times. And the same with other brands and various years. I don't think it's worth a price premium compared to its alternatives (some of which are wannabes too but often excellent anyway) but that's just my opinion.

I love champagne but that's way to pricey for me so no I would not buy it. I Like Elmer stated, there are good champagne without the high name recognition at a lower price point.

That said whenever I see things that are over the top expensive, the first thing that pops into my head is gee, how many people or abused animals could that have helped.

A sturdy, healthy economy that affords some people such luxuries does help people and abused animals. Go to some places in the world and you will see children dying of hunger, and I imagine animals not healthy and quick would be eaten. The $796 will help the liquor store owner, his children, the delivery service, etc. Does it trickle down as much as we would like? No. But you don't see people trapping and eating dogs, either; our economy does do something for the poor although it falls short in some areas.

And some wealthy people do give money to shelters and places that help people.

I do understand Lukki, and there are some enormously expensive luxuries, and there are many animals and people in need, but I do not think curtailing luxuries will bring about a rise in contributions to the needy. You are a good soul though, to be mindful of the plight of the less fortunate.

I passed over that but it's an unfortunate sentiment. No matter what's involved, I hope what that person is expressing ISN'T a way of saying "they should spend their money how I think they should, not how they think they should". I'm not sure how to react to that but it's an unreasonable expectation in any event and not one to spend time thinking about.

Could I afford it? Yes. Would I ever buy it? No. For me it's all about whether or not the price would buy me at least that much satisfaction. Considering I rarely drink champagne and am not really a fan, and the realization that my "palate" is hardly sophisticated enough to know or care if there is a difference between that bottle and any other, no way would it give me that kind of satisfaction. I could care less about name brand or marketing caché.

I remember being at an Arch Digest show in NYC years ago and saw these neat looking switch plate covers. Then I saw the price tag was $100 each. Could I afford them? Yes. Would I ever buy them? No. There's no way any switch plate cover could ever provide me any kind of satisfaction to be worth that price.

I remember a study done by Brian Wansink who is a behavioral economist. They did a taste test where they put the same wine in two different bottles...one with a fancy, expensive looking label, and one with a cheap label. People showed a distinct preference for the wine the the fancy label....even *after* they were told it was the exact same wine. They still insisted it tasted better to them.

Heavens no! But then my champagne palate is probably not sophisticated enough to appreciate it. We did buy a nice bottle of champagne for tonight-but it was only $79. I objected, telling my hubby that I had no desire to celebrate 2020. He informed me that we were celebrating that we SURVIVED it!! And that it's over! We plan on having a nice soak in our hot tub while enjoying it.

If I really liked champagne and $750 didn’t mean enough to me to think too hard about, sure I’d buy it. For my budget $750 would be a big stretch for booze, and if I were intent on splurging I’d buy something that would last a little longer like a really nice bottle of scotch.

I kind of roll my eyes at these so-called blind tasting experiments. They certainly may “trick” commoners like me but anyone with a refined wine palate will know the difference. I’ve got a friend like that, for him a bottle of say Caymus is a throwaway for a weeknight meal. Fortunately for him he’s got the resources to maintain his rotating million dollar cellar. Personally I think it more a hindrance than a gift to have such high demands for what we eat or drink.

This conversation reminds me of going to a wine tasting with my parents when I was a young teen, the guy running the tasting commented that my preference for a very sweet Austrian spatlase showed that my palate was informed more by CocaCola than by fine wine. It was a fair enough point for a fourteen year old. Palates can be developed.

PS I am sure that wrt developing ones palate, most will say, I like what I like and that is good enough. I would argue a taste more informed by CocaCola leads to much higher lifestyle costs overall than a taste for Dom Perignon.

I suspect when you were a teen, more sweeter (less dry) rieslings were produced in Germany/Austria/France than are now but they're available. I remember going to Weinfests in the Mosel and Rhein regions as a young adult and the sweeter ones predominated, less so now. As I suspect you well know, each wine type has its proper time and place to enjoy with food that it will compliment.

Edit to add:

I think the sentiment "I like what I like" is often a rationalization by folks with narrow tastes who don't enjoy trying new things, as a way to add more items to the list of things they like.

"They did a taste test where they put the same wine in two different bottles...one with a fancy, expensive looking label, and one with a cheap label."

True taste tests of any kind are completely blind, not as you describe this one to be.

What you're describing is a behavior test, not a wine tasting test.

True but if your taste buds can be influenced by a label, perhaps they’re not as discriminating as you think.

(generic ”you”)

For people sampling or choosing any food or flavor item they're familiar with, choosing by taste can often (but not always) be very different than choosing by label. That's true with champagne and more broadly for wine, food products with variability from year to year, batch to batch, producer to producer. I'd suggest someone who chooses by label ISN'T choosing by taste.

As the example earlier, someone who always gives Dom Perignon because her father did isn't making a taste choice. She might be surprised to find there are better tasting alternatives at lower cost. Better to look at what she's doing as giving is a brand as a gift, not a selected flavor quality.

Zalco/bring back Sophie!

I often wonder what it feels like to be in the skin of the person who could make that purchase and never look back.

That statement is so shallow and judgmental, while totally lacking in self awareness, that it boggles the mind.

All Westerners are living in glass houses on this score.

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I guess I am shallow and judgmental too. Because I sometimes wonder what it would be like to have so much money that you can buy anything and everything you want, without batting an eye. But in the case of DP, or any other obscenely pricey consumer goods, I would not want to shell out just on principle.

Annie D., if I wanted a drop-dead gorgeous $100 switch plate cover, I would buy it. And I might once buy a $100 bottle of champagne.

I think everyone with some amount of disposable income has a price they will pay for something frivolous.

In regard to Elmer's comment about changing wine. When I was drinking Mosel's and Rhein's in the 1970s they were completely switched from the last time I purchased either. Mosel's were sweeter and Rhein's were crisp with some being light in both flavor and aroma but others heaver in both.

Not just wine sometimes those frivolous purchases can be mental lifesavers. I only hope the bottle of white Grave I splurged on back in April is as good as I remember it being. I knew it was supposed to be expensive back then but the price of the three types the store had available almost had me put it back. However when I walked out of that store I had a big smile on my face.

I've had expensive Dom Perignon and did not like it, but then I don't like most Champagne. There are, however, some sparkling white wines that I do like, and I found one in Paso Robles that I liked much better than any Champagne I have had. It came from a rather small winery, which did not offer shipping when we visited in 2013. We've been back to Paso since then, but not to that winery.

I like Freixenet (Spanish sparkling wine) and would substitute that for Champagne. I also like Asti Spumanti, but it is not dry and does give me a headache. Kevin won't drink AS, but it is a good mixer.

I wouldn't pay that much. But I do know a couple of folks that would, and I wouldn't be surprised if I've been served bubbly or wines that are that expensive before. I know other folks that are into various meads and alcohols, and have laid down what seems like astonishing amounts of money on a special bottle of whatever. Even a few folks that lucked out and won a bottle of something in raffles.

Being fortunate enough to taste a variety of expensive- yeah, it's worth it if that's your thing and you can afford it. Me, not so much my thing, and I for sure wouldn't afford it even if I could. Though this summer I did splurge and dropped almost 20 bucks on a bottle of bubbly from a local vineyard that is chilling for after dinner tonight. The other wines I picked up at the time to try were a couple whites that were a bit sweet and could use something, and the couple reds a bit raw in the tannic but flavorful with dried fruits that can be hard to hit with younger reds. So midnight will tell if this 20 buck bubbly is a hit, or not.

It would be wasted on me, but my son in-law has many bottles of wine that were purchased much cheaper and are now worth that and more.

Nope.

I don't care for champagne, so no. But even if I did, I just would not spend that kind of money on alcohol. It's just not worth it to me. There are plenty of other things that I would spend that on though, that others would not.

I grew up in a house with a chef as a father and a mother who cooked for private parties. My father knew his wine. I enjoyed watching him shop for wine when company was coming. Different wines for every course.

I love a good wine. That price however, is way out of my league. I’ve taught my husband and his family a little bit I guess. When I met them way back in 83 they drank raki (is that how you spell it?) with everything. They still drink that but not as much, and they now seem to enjoy a good wine with dinner. Thank goodness!

An $800 bottle of wine has no meaning for me since I don't like wine. I don't hold it against someone who would splurge for it if it were in their budget. I occasionally spend more money than others on things that are important to me. Wine isn't anywhere near my list of importance and I don't know that much about it.

I've never liked champagne, and I'm glad to see I'm in good company. I don't care for white wine either. I used to be quite fond of good reds (before I got Lyme disease and had to swear off alcohol), and I have friends with deep pockets who often pay prices I cringe at for wine, especially in restaurants, where the wine store price can be greatly inflated.

I don't miss drinking wine, but I miss buying it. Our PA state stores have "Chairman's Selections," chosen by someone I used to know. He's very good at his job, and it was always exciting to find something like a highly rated malbec for under $10. I miss the hunt! (I also miss the other kinds of hunts, like at the Salvation Army. LOL)

I always have a bottle of Champagne in the house. Although I adore Champagne, there are other sparkling whites I like, too. Having lived very briefly in France and being a frequent traveler there, I am always transported back whether it is an afternoon treat or a celebratory one. I would not, however, buy a magnum of Dom. Oh, and when it comes to Champagne, only the French can claim that name.

Ditto what Chessie said. I have spent many thousands of dollars buying and caring for old, broken down horses.

Nope. I like bubbly, but that's out of my budget, sale or not

For our dinner at our favorite restaurant to celebrate my sister's 70th birthday, my BIL brought along a bottle of wine that sells for $2000. We each had a small glass of it, as did the house wine expert. BIL had bought it from Trader Joe's decades ago, and it had increased in value a thousandfold. It was wasted on me. I am not into wines. But the wait and kitchen staff was all a twitter. The cork was so old it took some doing in the kitchen to extract it in pieces, so they all had had a gander at the wine label and the original TJ price.

If someone has held onto a bottle of wine for a period of time and the price has appreciated (which will always happen with even decent wine because of supply and demand), if the intent is to drink it, then I'm not sure how or why what it's worth should matter.