The best bubbly bargains for Christmas 2022
From under £5 party fizz (yes, really) to a special bottle for New Year's Eve here's my pick of the sparkling wine and champagne deals
Most booze shopping takes place in the run-up to Christmas and sparkling wine is no exception. But in the mad festive rush it’s easy to spend more than you need.
Bear in mind it that just because a bottle is on sale in a supermarket, it doesn’t meant you’re getting a bargain. Bollinger for example is a full £50 in Asda and Tesco though ‘only’ £45.99 in Majestic if you buy it on their mix six deal.* You can buy 3 bottles of Lidl’s perfectly serviceable Comte de Senneval or Aldi’s Veuve Monsigny for that price.
What makes champagne more expensive? A well known brand, as we’ve seen. A vintage (theoretically better - more complex, richer and toastier - though that won’t necessarily be to your taste.) Rosé champagne always costs more.
In terms of sparkling wine the two you’re most likely to find under £10 are cava and prosecco. I personally tend to drink the former but if you’ve a sweeter tooth than I have you’ll probably prefer prosecco. (And at under £5, like the bargain below, I’d be perfectly happy with it too!)
Crémant - French sparkling wine from regions other than champagne is great value quality-wise but will cost you a bit more - round about the £10 mark on promotion if you’re lucky. Sparkling wine from elsewhere in the wine world tends to be more in the £15-20 price range and English sparkling wine much the same as champagne
The other way you’ll save if you can run to it is by buying in quantity - six bottles in the case of Majestic and The Wine Society, not all of which have to be champagne and three in the case of Morrisons. And Tesco offers really good deals to its Clubcard members.
* Majestic also has halves of Bolly at £22.49 on their mix six deal
Here’s my pick of what’s out there this week.