Supermarket £18 fizz tops list for Which? tastes best
Consumer watchdog magazine Which? has named an £18 own-brand champagne from Morrisons as its best champagne in their annual taste test.
Reasonably priced fizz Adrien Chopin Brut beat competition from some of France’s leading champagne houses including Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, and Lanson.
The competition was decided by a panel of Which? experts, who conducted a blind taste-test on 18 champagnes from a mixture of notable brands and supermarket options.
Morrisons’ champagne nabbed the top spot with an impressive judges score of 82 per cent, with the tasting notes observing it was “golden champagne with stewed apple aromas, rich flavours and a hint of sweetness”.
The supermarket itself heralds the drink as a “sophisticated and elegant champagne, with a soft creamy mousse” and “wonderfully rich”.
In second place, heralded as a Which? Best Buy in its own right, was Waitrose’s own brand Brut Champagne, similarly affordable at £20.
It came in with 79 per cent, heralded as being an ideal drop for a party (in your bubble, of course), with notes of “ripe red apples and apple blossom”.
The supermarket describes its Brut Champagne as “round and fruity with a lovely toastiness”.
It beat Waitrose’s other offering Blanc de Blanc.
While the Morrisons and Waitrose options were the only two champagnes to clinch a Which? Best Buy accolade, third place winner, Moët & Chandon’s Imperial Brut, scored an impressive 78 per cent in the judges’ estimation.
However, at double the price of the winner– £36 – it’s a less immediately attractive option for savvy buyers.
And, while it was described as a pleasant drink, one judge dismissed it as “a little bland”.
Pleasingly for those on a budget, the own-brand supermarket champagnes dominated much of the com
petition, with fizz from Lidl, Marks & Spencer, and Aldi performing well, earning higher scores than pricey prestige brands Lanson and Veuve Clicquot.
The dubious distinction of lowest score was nabbed by Aldi.
Their Philizot & Fils organic champagne, £27, was rounded dismissed, earning the epithet “wishy washy”.
The Aldi fizz just prevented Morrisons from having the unique distinction of finishing both top and bottom of the list as second to bottom this year was another of its own-brand champagnes.
The Best Premier Cru costs £3 more than the Adrien Chopin, but it didn’t hit the mark, proving that the most expensive is not always the best.