Lidl’s £12.49 Champagne beats pricey Moët & Chandon and Tattinger to be named best value bubbles in Which? blind taste test – while Waitrose’s £24 bottle is the overall winner
- Lidl Champagne beats Moet, Taittinger and Piper-Heidsieck bottles in blind test
- Which? expert panel of blind testers recognised £11.99 bottle for ‘Great Value’
- It was the cheapest bottle the experts tested, costing £26 less than other brands
Budget Champagnes from Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Lidl have beaten bottles from high-end brands costing three times as much in a Which? blind taste test.
An expert panel of judges sampled 19 non-vintage champagnes from supermarkets and best-selling brands for the consumer group’s annual Christmas report.
Waitrose Blanc De Noirs Brut NV Champagne, £24, was declared the overall winner, with a score of 82%.
Second place went to Co-op Les Pionniers Non-Vintage Champagne, £19, with a score of 81%, followed by M&S Champagne Delacourt Brut NV, £20, at 81%.
Lidl’s Veuve Delattre Champagne Brut NV, which at £12.49 was the cheapest bottle tasted, scored 77% and was named best value. It came in sixth overall.
In contrast, Moët & Chandon Brut Imperial NV Champagne, £38, scored 73% and Piper-Heidsieck Brut Champagne, £35, scored 71%. Both finished outside the top 10.
An expert panel of judges sampled 19 non-vintage champagnes from supermarkets and best-selling brands for the consumer group’s annual Christmas report
BEST OVERALL: Waitrose Blanc De Noirs Brut NV Champagne, £24, left, was awarded the highest marks (82%) in a blind taste test for Which? BEST VALUE: Lidl’s Veuve Delattre Champagne Brut NV, which at £12.49 was the cheapest bottle, scored 77% and came in sixth
Supermarkets were asked to nominate two widely available champagnes that they thought would stand up to the bestselling brands, including a premium own label costing up to £38 and, if available, a second, lower-priced own label champagne.
Each member of the panel tasted the champagnes in a different order to avoid any bias.
After all the champagnes had been tasted, the panel agreed on a score for each bottle and which ones deserved to be Best Buys.
Results proved a higher price does not always mean a higher quality bottle, with supermarket wines dominating the top 10. Sainsbury’s Lidl
Which? commented that Lidl’s ‘Great Value’ Champagne was ‘the cheapest on test, yet it outshone many pricier rivals’.
SECOND PLACE: Co-op Les Pionniers Non-Vintage Champagne, £19, 81% (left). THIRD PLACE: M&S Champagne Delacourt Brut NV, £20 – 81%, right.
FOURTH PLACE: Tesco Finest Premier Cru Champagne, £21, 81% (left). FIFTH PLACE: Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Blanc De Noirs Champagne, £21, 79% (right)
Lidl’s Veuve Delattre Champagne Brut NV received a higher rating than bottles from some of the top Champagne houses.
It was was the cheapest bottle the experts tested, at around £26 less than the price of those by the more renowned brands.
The Lidl champagne scored higher than £35 a bottle Piper-Heidsieck Brut and £36-a-bottle Taittinger Brut Reserve N/V.
Richard Bampfield, Lidl’s Master of Wine, commented: ‘The results of this expert blind-tasting are a well-deserved endorsement for what truly is a great value bottle of Champagne.
‘Proving once again that Lidl cannot be beaten on price or quality!
Lidl’s Veuve Delattre Champagne Brut NV is a brilliant option for those looking to save and impress over the festive period.’
SIXTH PLACE: Lidl Veuve Delattre Champagne Brut NV, £12.95 – 77% (left). SEVENTH PLACE: Lidl Comte de Senneval Champagne Brut NV, £13.50 – 75% (right)
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