EXPERTS have revealed the best festive Champagnes and sparkling wines to pop open this festive season – including a £11.49 bottle from Lidl.
The Champagne ranked near the top of the list with bottles costing over twice as much including Veuve Clicquot.
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The team of experts, which were recruited by Which, tried 145 glasses of fizz without knowing the cost or maker, focusing only on the flavour.
Each Champagne was given a percentage score by the judges which was used to decide which were the best.
Lidl’s Comte de Senneval Brut NV, costing £11.49 a bottle, was named among the best with a “commendable” score of 77 per cent.
But, it didn’t get the top spot, that was shared between the £33 Piper-Heidsieck Brut NV and £35 Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label NV, which were each awarded a score of 81 per cent.
Which’s best buy bubbles for Christmas
Champagne:
- Piper Heidsieck Brut Champagne, £33 – 81 per cent
- Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Champagne, £25 – 81 per cent
- Waitrose & Partners Champagne Brut, £20 – 80 per cent
- Lidl Comte de Senneval Brut NV, £11.49 – 77 per cent
Sparkling wine:
- Tesco Finest Prosecco Brut, £8 – 76 per cent
- Freixenet Cordon Negro Cava, £11 – 75 per cent
- Asda Extra Special Selection Crémant de Loire Brut, £8 – 74 per cent
Waitrose Brut NV took a close second at 80 per cent and is slightly cheaper, costing just £20.
While the judges felt the fancier brands did taste better, Lidl’s champagne was the best rated budget bubbly on the list.
The experts also judged the best bargain sparkling wines on the market, taste testing 12 sparkling wines all priced under £12.
Their favourite was the Tesco Finest Prosecco Brut which got a score of 76 per cent and costs a bargain £8.
Second place went to the £11 Freixenet Cordon Negro Cava with a score of 75 per cent, which is available in Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
What’s the difference between Champagne and sparkling wine?
CHAMPAGNE and sparkling wines such as cava and prosecco are all made in the same way.
But, only certain sparkling wines can be called Champagne.
To be called Champagne, the sparkling wine has to come from the Chapagne region in France and can only be made using certain grapes.
Similarly, fizz can only be called cava if it is made in Spain, or prosecco if it is made in certain parts of Italy.
Wines made outside these areas, or not made using certain methods and grapes, can only be called sparkling wine.
The Champagne name is protected under EU law, and any winemaker that wants to sell its sparkling wine in Europe must follow it.
Asda’s own brand fizz also got into the top three with the £8 Asda Extra Special Selection Crémant de Loire getting a score of 74 per cent.
The panel also proved that high price doesn’t always equal the best flavour.
Two different £35 bottles of champagne tasted by the judges scored just 67 and 68 per cent, meaning they tasted worse than Tesco prosecco which is four times cheaper.
Celebrating Christmas with a glass of bubbly is one of the best parts of the festive season – but make sure you drink responsibly.
This £10 prosecco from Morrisons was recently given first place by Good Housekeeping in its blind taste test.
Add a sparkly, zesty touch to your champagne with this clementine gin liqueur by M&S.
Lidl is planning on launching a home delivery service so you can get your prosecco delivered to your home.
