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Press Release

Supermarket Champagne beats big name brands

30 November 2006

Own-brand Champagnes from Sainsbury’s and Somerfield have beaten big names, including bestseller Moët & Chandon, to top rankings in a blind taste test carried out by Which?

Somerfield’s Prince William Premier Cru, which costs just £14.99, won the award for Exceptional Value and was one of the top-ranked Champagnes, noted for its ‘maturity’ and ‘elegance’.

It was just pipped by the overall winner, Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Premier Cru Vintage 2000, currently on offer at £17.99, which was praised for its ‘elegance and class’ by the six professional tasters.

The UK’s top-selling big name brand, Moët & Chandon’s Brut Imperial, which costs £23.94 at Tesco, was beaten by all but two of the 16 Champagnes in the tasting as well as by some, much cheaper, sparkling wines.

Six of the top ten Champagnes were supermarket own labels; Tesco Premier Cru, which came top in the last survey in 2002, came seventh this time round. Big-name brands Lanson Black Label and Veuve Clicquot gained respectable fourth and joint fifth positions.

There seemed to be no link between price and quality for both Champagnes and sparkling wines: some quite cheap wines made it into the top half of the ranking, while some very expensive wines came near the bottom.

Neil Fowler, Editor, Which? magazine, said:
“Champagne is still seen as a luxury drink, but the real luxury now is being able to afford more of it, as there’s not necessarily a link between price and quality.

“The fact that top wine experts picked more supermarket own brand Champagnes than well known names as their favourites speaks volumes - don’t feel you have to spend a fortune.”



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