Re: The Wine Thread
Pierre Ferrand is one of the better small house Cognacs around, IMO. Not cheap, but great. If you're into incredible Cognacs you should try Leopold Gourmel.
Of the sparklers on your list the one that "stands out" for me is Laurent-Perrier, really good stuff. Rene Geoffroy is good as well.
The other are mostly big houses (Pommery, Perrir-Jouet, Gosset) and although produce some really god wine I prefer to give my money to the small guys Gosset made its name on their Rose bottling and while good I had it next to that Etoile Rose I listed above and for me Etoile blew it away, handily. At a much better price.
The rest of the list is small, family owned wineries and while all are pretty good (I don't think you'll find a dud on the list) the few others I listed are probably better wines. The good thing about your list (the small guys) is that they are not that expensive (relatively) and you can try them all over the time to see what you like without spending a huge chunk of money.
For my money, if I really want to splurge, nothing beats Salon, IMO. They only release 3-4 times a decade and sell off bulk wine in the "off" years.
Costco in CA carries Piper-Heidsieck Rose Sauvage, at a really good price (used to see it at $40?), you should see if you can score a bottle. I know, its a large house, but the wine is undervalued, IMO, at that price.
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