I usually use S05 and it's worked, but very slowly. Since this one is over 13% I might have to consider the champagne yeast.
The dosage recommendation for champagne works out to 10g per 20L. I believe Red Star Premier Cuvee is the same strain, and those are usually cheaper than EC-1118. Champagne (high ABV + high carb level) is a pretty unfriendly environment for yeast, so 2 packs for a 5 gallon batch are probably reasonable, even though you may not need as much CO2 as you would in a champagne.
Another nice thing about champagne yeast is there's no way it'll touch any of the complex residual sugars, and will only ferment the simple sugars you prime with.
I was bottling in 750ml bottles, and gave the bucket a gentle swirl with a long spoon every 3 or 4 bottles to make sure the yeast was evenly distributed. I bottled 5 gallons that way, and 5 gallons by just dumping the yeast in, and not swirling. The swirled batch carbed much more evenly and quickly than the non-swirled batch.
I've also used Cote des Blanc in the past, but it didn't flocc' as nicely as the Prise de Mousse, and the Blanc left little kraeusen rings around the necks of the bottles. Prise de Mousse is the way to go.