Fancy a cut-price fizz? Try progrigio

That’s prosecco mixed with a little pinot grigio!

ITS reputation as a cheaper alternative to champagne means the popularity of prosecco has soared in recent years.

But with the falling pound set to send prices rocketing, it seems that fizz fans are looking for an even cheaper alternative.

Now one supermarket has unveiled ‘progrigio’ – a cut-price mixture of pinot grigio wine and prosecco, which will sell for just £5 a bottle.

Though the move is likely to horrify wine connoisseurs, Asda promises that the new drink tastes almost exactly the same as prosecco.

A normal bottle of Asda prosecco costs between £6 and £8.98.

The supermarket describes progrigio as ‘crisp, fresh and delicately floral’, adding that the ‘fruity aromas of progrigio are balanced by its dry profile that offers a hint of sweetness at the finish’.

The drink, which is 11 per cent alcohol, is meant to be served in a champagne flute but can also be used as the base for a sparkling cocktail.

Thanks to the popularity of prosecco, the sparkling wine sector in the UK is worth over £604.4million, with Asda reporting a 33 per cent rise in prosecco sales over the past two years.

But as global demand for the wine increases, customers will inevitably feel the impact of rising costs from suppliers.

Prosecco drinkers were left dismayed after warnings this week that prices could rise by nine per cent, an average of 59p per bottle.

The UK Wine and Spirit Trade Association made the predictions due to a weaker pound, higher inflation and potential alcohol duty increases.

Asda wine buying manager Ed Betts said: ‘We are always striving to keep prices as low as possible without compromising on quality and we believe progrigio is the ideal affordable sparkling wine alternative.

‘We want to protect the demand for sparkling wine by offering customers more choice, and by moving slightly away from the Prosecco region we have discovered a great example of quality fizz at an everyday price.’

Prosecco’s popularity even saw it outshine champagne last New Year’s Eve, accounting for 18 per cent of total drink sales at pubs.