Forget Moet, raise a toast to supermarket champagne

CORKS will be popping across the country for those with champagne tastes but a lemonade budget.

In blind taste tests, supermarket ownlabel champagnes have soundly beaten offerings from some of France’s mostcelebrated houses.

While budget sparkling wine as little as £8.99 also goes down a treat, experts at consumer champion Which? found.

Moet & Chandon, at £39 a bottle, was beaten by Tesco Finest Premier Cru Champagne, £23, and Waitrose Blanc de Blancs Brut, £25.99, which tied top with scores of 82 per cent. Judges were impressed by the Tesco champers’ ‘expressive aromas and flavours of brioche, roasted apples and a nutty finish’.

And they praised the Waitrose fizz as ‘pleasing and rewarding... with delicate, toasty notes and ripe fruit aromas’.

In contrast, experts said the Moet ‘did not particularly impress’, giving it a score of 68 per cent and ranking it in 11th place out of the 15 tested. In the sparkling wine category, Aldi’s Specially Selected Crémant du Jura 2019, priced at £8.99, came top with 74 per cent.

Natalie Hitchins, from Which?, said: ‘No matter what your budget is, you can be sure that your celebrations will fizz with top-quality champagne.

‘Our taste tests have proven that supermarket champagnes can more than hold their own against the famous champagne houses, delivering excellent quality and great value for money.’