Where has this year gone? It's like we blinked and 2022 was over. But at least New Years Eve will give us the perfect excuse to pop the cork - or twist the cap - off a bottle of bubbly and raise a toast to 2023, and celebrate the best of the last 12 months.
But which one to buy? The supermarket aisles can be quite overwhelming to a non-sommelier, so we just want something that tastes good and costs less than a tenner.
Supermarkets all have their own budget fizz, with prices starting just over £5 - but does the price affect the quality and taste? I set out on a mission to find out.
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I headed out to Aldi, Sainsbury’s, M&S, Tesco, Morrisons, Asda and Lidl to try their cut-price Prosecco, judging them on price, appearance and taste to discover the best to buy if you’re on a budget. And surprisingly, one of the cheapest tasted just as good as more expensive ones - I'll raise a glass to that as the clock strikes 12.
What's more, several supermarkets are now offering bottle-based deals until the end of the year. For example, shoppers at M&S can buy a bottle of their £10 Prosecco and get two packs of nibbles free. Meanwhile at Sainsbury's, customers can save 25 per cent when they buy six bottles.
There's a similar deal on at Tesco which requires a Clubcard, saving a quarter off the bill when you buy six bottles with the loyalty card, while at Morrisons you can save 25 per cent when you buy three bottles - so they're ideal if you're inviting friends and family around to ring in the New Year.
Here's what I found when I taste tested supermarket Prosecco:
Price
I bought the cheapest available own brand prosecco at each of the stores, however, some only had the smaller personal bottles available. For ease, I’ve shared the prices of only the 75cl bottles.
Aldi and Lidl came in joint cheapest at £5.49 a bottle, while M&S was unsurprisingly more expensive at £10 a bottle..
Here are the prices of each of the fizzes:
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Costellore Prosecco Frizzante 75cl (Aldi) 10.5% ABV - £5.49
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Tesco Finest Prosecco Doc 75cl 11% ABV - £8.50 or £7.50 with Clubcard
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Sainsbury's Prosecco Frizzante 75cl 10.5% ABV - £6
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Lidl Allini Prosecco Treviso 75cl 10.5% ABV - £5.49
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Morrisons The Best Prosecco 75cl 11% ABV - £8.75
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M&S Prosecco Extra Dry 75cl 11% ABV - £10
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Asda Extra Special Organic Prosecco Brut 75cl 11.5% ABV - £8
Appearance
Each of the bottles looked posh enough to gift, however, I’d say Sainsbury’s bottle looked the cheapest, both for its label design and twist-cap lid. That said, I did find these twist lids handy for keeping the fizz fresh, so I would definitely opt for a bottle like this if I were drinking it at home.
Sainsbury’s, Lidl and Aldi all had twist caps on their bottles, while the other four had corks. Each opened well without a spillage, bar Morrisons, which went off like a volcano and probably gave the neighbours a fright.
In terms of the bubbly itself, I poured a small amount into identical cups and discovered that each one looked pretty much exactly the same. They had the same white wine colour, a similar amount of bubbles, and frankly if I’d moved them around in a magician style mix up, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you which was which from looks alone.
Taste
To help me taste test the prosecco, I roped in a number of ‘experts’, by which I mean my parents, my boyfriend and my sister-in-law, who, to be fair, has enjoyed her fair share of Prosecco in the past.
We started with Tesco, which we agreed was an elegant fizz that was quite smooth to drink, and was quite similar in taste to the Morrisons bottle, too. Both were refreshing, light and fruity, and within a similar price bracket, too.
Sainsbury’s offering we liked slightly less, finding it to be fairly flavourless in the mouth, but with a bitter aftertaste, while Aldi’s was quite tart, although not too overpowering, making for an enjoyable toast to the weekend.
Lidl’s Prosecco was sweet and fruity, it had quite a sharp taste but received four thumbs up out of five, standing it in good stead as the favourite.
Meanwhile, M&S’s £10 Prosecco tasted just as delicious, with floral notes and a fruity flavour. It had a nice amount of fizz and went down well with the group, unlike Asda’s option, which most people said was quite bitter. It was only my dad who enjoyed this one, saying it ‘tasted more boozy’ than the others, which I’m not convinced is always what you want from alcohol, otherwise, people wouldn’t make cocktails, right?
Verdict
While M&S and Lidl both received five star ratings from the team, I’m crowning Lidl the winner based on price and the ability to seal the bottle back up, making it last longer. It had a beautiful flavour and was just as nice as the most expensive of the bunch, making it a great choice for your New Years Eve toast.
Unfortunately Sainsbury’s and Asda came bottom of the list, however, I’m still unlikely to turn my nose up at any of them, if I was offered a glass.
Star rating
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Lidl 5/5
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M&S 5/5
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Aldi 4/5
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Tesco 3/5
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Morrisons 2/5
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Sainsbury’s 2/5
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Asda 1/5
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