Champagne at prosecco prices? Every little helps. Tesco’s Finest champagne has triumphed over the prestigious French label Moët & Chandon in a festive quaff test.
The Tesco Finest premier cru brut champagne received the top score of 82% in a blind taste test conducted by the consumer group Which?. The £25-a-bottle bubbly was hailed by judges for its “nutty aroma and fresh, fruity flavours”. The supermarket fizz beat Moët & Chandon, which scored 77% and at £44 is almost twice as expensive.
Aldi’s Veuve Monsigny champagne was also a hit with the panel. It scored 80% and, like the Tesco fizz, secured the consumer champion’s coveted “best buy” gong. The £22 bubbly has an “aroma of crunchy green apples with a suggestion of pecans, spice and butterscotch”, according to the tasters.
Waitrose’s brut NV champagne scored the same as Aldi and is also a “best buy”. At £25, it is described as having “pleasing peach, pear and apple flavours, and a superb nut and winter spice taste”.
A champagne toast might be an annual festive tradition but with money tight in many households, Which? also road-tested cheaper sparkling wines. The cheapest of these, Lidl’s Prosecco Superiore Valdobbiadene, scored 80%. At £7.49, this budget bottle is an “excellent alternative to champagne, and perfect for Christmas parties”, it said.
Natalie Hitchins, the Which? home products and services editor, said its panel had identified “affordable and delicious options that were dramatically cheaper than alternatives from the big-name champagne houses”. “Our taste tests show that you don’t have to spend over the odds for a supermarket champagne or sparkling wine that delivers on quality and value for money,” she said.
The latest supermarket data revealed shoppers were already preparing for Christmas, and October sales figures showed households stocking cupboards with festive treats. While some complain of “Christmas creep” when mince pies arrive on shelves in September, Fraser McKevitt, the head of retail and consumer insight at grocery industry analysts Kantar, said the consumer demand was there. Last month, 648,000 shoppers bought a Christmas cake, while 14.4% of households picked up mince pies, he said.
So, if mince pie season is already in full swing, which ones should you buy? Luckily Which? has also put posh supermarket mince pie brands through their paces so you don’t have to.
While Tesco’s and Asda’s offerings fell flat, not for the first time, Waitrose’s No 1 brown butter mince pies won the day and, at £4 for six, are a “best buy”. Aldi Specially Selected mince pies also impressed the judges with a “great buttery taste and tasty filling”.
“The competition was fierce this year, but Waitrose was the only winner of our “best buy” endorsement,” said Hitchins. However, for those looking for a more affordable option, Aldi’s pies – at £2.29 for six or 38p per pie – are “tasty but don’t break the bank”.
