Best champagne: expert taste test reveals cheap supermarket winners

We asked a panel of independent wine experts to blind-taste a selection of champagnes to uncover the best supermarket bubbly for special occasions.

Champagne is more expensive to produce compared to other sparkling wines, meaning some brands' bottles costing more than £50. However, our taste test shows that you don't have to spend a fortune to get a brilliant bubbly.

Our experts uncovered two outstanding supermarket champagnes for under £25, plus several other cheaper bottles worth considering.

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Best champagne

Only logged-in Which? members can view our full test results and tasting notes below. If you're not yet a member, you'll see an alphabetically ordered list of the champagnes on test. 

To get instant access to these and all our reviews, join Which? today.

Aldi Monsigny Premier Cru Champagne

£19.99 for 75cl, vegan and vegetarian

Aldi's champagne has impressed in previous years, but how did it do this time round?

Join Which? to unlock our test results and find out where this champagne ranked overall. 

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Aldi.

Asda Veuve Olivier & Fils Secret de Cave Champagne

£28 for 75cl

Family-owned business Veuve Olivier says it uses a longer ageing process to help the champagne develop greater complexity of flavour. But does this mean it's a first-class fizz?

Join Which? to unlock our test results and find out where this champagne ranked overall. 

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Asda.

Co-op Les Pionniers Champagne

£21.75 for 75cl, vegan and vegetarian

Co-op's champagne was one of the more affordable options in our taste test. So is it a good party fizz?

Join Which? to unlock our test results and find out where this wine ranked overall. 

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Co-op.

Lidl Montaudon AOP Brut Champagne

£14.99 for 75cl

As the cheapest champagne on test, Lidl could be worth considering if you're after a good bubbly that won't cost a fortune. But did it match up to pricier rivals on taste?

Join Which? to unlock our test results and find out where this champagne ranked overall. 

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Lidl.

M&S Collection De Saint-Gall Premier Cru Champagne

£28 for 75cl, vegan and vegetarian

This M&S champagne promises fine bubbles with hints of brioche and lemon. Was it a hit with our experts?

Join Which? to unlock our test results and find out where this champagne ranked overall. 

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from M&S (case of 6) and Ocado.

Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Blanc de Noirs Brut Champagne

£23.50 for 75cl, vegan and vegetarian

Crafted purely from black grapes, Sainsbury's describes its champagne as 'fresh and fruity with delicate hints of toasty biscuit'. Was it top of the pops for our panel?

Join Which? to unlock our test results and find out where this champagne ranked overall. 

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Sainsbury's.

Tesco Finest Premier Cru Brut Champagne

£25 for 75cl, vegan and vegetarian

According to Tesco, this champagne has elegant flavours of citrus, green apple and brioche. How did it compare to other supermarket champagnes?

Join Which? to unlock our test results and find out where this champagne ranked overall. 

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Tesco.

Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut Champagne

£47 for 75cl

At more than £45 a bottle, Veuve Clicquot is the most expensive champagne on test by a mile, so is it worth splashing out on a pricier big brand?

Join Which? to unlock our test results and find out where this champagne ranked overall. 

Want to buy without reading our results? It's available from Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose, or compare prices below:

Waitrose Brut Champagne

£21.99 for 75cl, vegan and vegetarian

Waitrose says its champagne is made using only the top cuvée made from the first pressing of grapes. Was it enough to win over our expert panel?

Join Which? to unlock our test results and find out where this champagne ranked overall. 

Want to buy without reading our results? Available from Waitrose.

Price and availability checked December 2023.

Best sparkling wine – our expert taste test reveals the best budget-friendly fizz, including top cheap picks for cremant, cava and prosecco.

The best way to chill champagne 

Fail to chill your champagne properly and you'll end up with fizz flying everywhere. Our experts warned that a warm bottle is a recipe for an explosive opening.

Follow our tips for chilling your champagne to serve it at the right temperature and you'll be rewarded with the best of the flavour – and your bubbly won't end up all over the floor:

• Plan ahead Put your champagne in the fridge for at least two hours before you plan to serve it. If you’re chilling lots of bottles at once, or have a very full fridge, you’ll need longer. 
• Chill with ice and water If your fridge is overflowing, chill the bottle in a container filled with ice and water – this works better than ice alone. 
• Use your freezer as a backup If you forget to chill your bottle in advance, you can pop it into the freezer for 20 minutes as a last resort. Just remember to set a timer.
• Don’t serve it straight from the fridge Unless you prefer your champagne really cold, take the bottle out of the fridge 10 minutes before serving – the taste and aroma will be stunted if it's too cold.

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How to taste and serve champagne

Find out what our experts look for in a champagne, and get top tips for opening the bottle without wasting a drop, in our video guide:

Our experts were looking for a fresh, fruity aroma with some savoury richness and a fruity taste with good acidity. The age of the champagne matters, too. Younger champagne should have a good fresh and fruity taste, while older ones may shine with toasty, savoury character.

Best Buy food and drink – we reveal the best value and tastiest supermarket picks from our blind taste tests

Does champagne get better with age? And how to store it properly

How long your champagne will last for depends on the style. 

Non-vintage champagne can last unopened for three to four years, while vintage champagne (from a single year's harvest) can be kept for as long as 10 years. Some people will prefer to store it for a while before opening to allow it to age. 

Typically, champagne improves with a little extra ageing, unlike other sparkling wine such as prosecco. To prevent your champagne ageing too quickly, our experts recommend storing bottles standing up in a dark place with a cool, constant temperature.

Once opened, it's best to drink champagne within three to five days; after this it might lose its fizz. You may have heard that a wad of kitchen paper or a teaspoon in the bottle can help retain bubbles but, according to our experts, neither of these methods are particularly effective. 

If you often end up with a half-finished bottle, it's worth investing in a proper sparkling wine preserver to help your champagne last longer after it's been opened. These start from around £4.50, with simple stoppers designed for fizz available at supermarkets and and other retailers such as Amazon and Waitrose.

Best food to have with champagne

We asked our experts for their tips for what food goes best with champagne:

• If you like it hot, serve with spice Fizz accentuates chilli, so a glass of champagne pairs well with hot, spicy dishes. 
• Pair with vegetarian food Champagne tends to work better with vegetarian dishes, as opposed to heavier meat options.
• Consider sweetness Dry champagne is easier to match with food. Sweeter wine such as prosecco is best served without food.
• Serve with cheese Champagne pairs well with most types of cheese, particularly creamier cheeses. Champagne and comté is a classic pairing.
• Smoked salmon and champagne The popular pairing of champagne with smoked salmon might be influenced more by status rather than taste, as historically both were considered expensive luxuries. Our experts said the champagne acts like a squeeze of lemon, providing acidity to cut through the richness of the salmon. As long as you choose a dry champagne, it's not a bad match.

Our experts also pointed out that it's a great drink to have without food (in moderation, of course), so works well as a starting point for festivities before you move on to mellower options with your meal.

For more advice on which wines to pair with your favourite foods, see our expert guide to matching food and wine.

How to get champagne on the cheap

Our experts advised that stocking up on good champagne is a worthwhile pursuit, as it gets better with age and can be kept for a number of years. 

They’re fans of a multibuy deal, so take advantage of offers on the fizz you like. Waitrose is currently offering 25% off wine, but several of the major supermarkets periodically do a 'buy six bottles get 25% off' offer, usually in the run up to bank holidays and festive occasions, so keep an eye out for this.

If you need more inspiration on what to stock up on when there's a multi-buy offer, check out our pick of the best red wines.

Vintage vs non-vintage champagne: what’s the difference?

Have you spotted the abbreviation NV on a bottle of champagne, but not sure what it means? 

NV stands for non-vintage champagne. It is essentially a 'house' blend made using grapes harvested in different years to an established overall taste profile. 

In order to make quality fizz, producers try to balance the quality and style of non-vintage champagne over years to make the difference as small as possible. 

Non-vintage champagne is considered a highly skilled art of blending; it means that if you buy a particular brand or product, you know roughly what to expect taste-wise.

That's great for when you want a consistently delicious drink. Our experts were impressed by some of the supermarket offerings in this area when we tested, which they saw as 'safe' choices, especially if you're entertaining.

Vintage champagne, on the other hand, is made using grapes harvested from a single year, which will be displayed on the label.

Vintage champagne tends to be pricier, as the flavour will represent the characteristics of that particular year's harvest, and is more unique. So it's better for savouring in a smaller gathering than serving to the masses.

How we test champagne

Our panel of four independent wine experts blind-tasted nine champagnes in September 2023. We asked each supermarket to nominate a non-vintage champagne costing up to £50.

Our expert tasting panel included:

• Sam Caporn – Master of Wine, consultant, speaker, writer and co-chair of the International Wine Challenge
• Magnavai Janjo – Founder of wine importer and consultancy MJ Wine Cellars
• Helen McGinn – Author, drinks writer, TV presenter and co-chair of the International Wine Challenge
• Peter McCombie – Master of Wine, speaker, consultant and co-chair of the International Wine Challenge

The taste test was blind, so the panellists didn’t know which champagne they were trying. 

Each expert tried the champagnes in a different order to avoid any bias, and after all the champagnes had been tasted, the panel agreed on a score for each bottle and which ones deserved to be Best Buys. 

How to recycle champagne bottles

Glass bottles can usually go in your household recycling bin. If your council doesn’t accept them, you can take them to a local bottle bank.

The recycling process can vary depending on where you live, so make sure to check with your local area if bottles require rinsing first and whether metal screw caps should be replaced or recycled separately.

Natural corks can’t go in your recycling bin. You can recycle natural corks through Recorked UK – either by posting them or dropping them off at your nearest collection point.

Synthetic corks, which are made of plastic, can’t be recycled. They should be disposed of in your general waste bin.

Best cheap supermarket food and drink: get your weekly shop staples for less

Please drink responsibly – see Drinkaware for advice