A £16 English sparkling wine made in Surrey has triumphed in an annual consumer taste test of supermarket alternatives to champagne and been named as one of the best value deals for Christmas.
Denbies Chalk Valley English Sparkling Brut (non-vintage), sold only by Morrisons, scooped the top score of 77 points out of 100 in the Which? tasting, beating highly rated imported rivals such as prosecco, cava and crémant.
Made from grapes grown in long-established vineyards just outside Dorking, the winning wine was praised by the judging panel for its “brisk fizz and tropical fruity flavour”. Panellists said it had baked apple and elderflower flavours while one likened the aroma of the fizz to lychees. It also scooped one of three coveted ‘Best Buy’ awards.
Which? asked supermarkets to nominate their choice of a vintage or non-vintage (NV) champagne alternative for its pre-Christmas taste test. Entries had to be either own-label or exclusive, dry (brut), white, from any grape or blend and priced between £7.50 and £20.
The sparkling wine panel experts blind-tasted nine champagne alternatives, working their way through a total of 240 glasses.
“For those looking for a change from prosecco this Christmas, our Best Buy English fizz is an excellent option” said Harry Rose, editor of Which? magazine. “The quality and choice on offer this year is good news for lovers of sparkling wine. Whether you’re keen to try something different or you’re a die-hard prosecco fan, our experts have found some great supermarket offerings.”
Morrisons’ wine expert, Clive Donaldson, said: “This bubbly offers customers the best of English wine making and will make a splash at any Christmas party.”
The second Which? Best Buy – notching up a score of 76 – went to a French sparkling wine. Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Crémant (£11) was praised by the experts as “simple and refreshing” with “attractive herbal and pear notes”.
A well-kept secret and alternative to prosecco was the fashionable Italian fizz franciacorta, Which? said. It is made from grapes from the region in Lombardy. Drier than prosecco, it is described as fruitier and softer than champagne, with distinctive lemony notes.
The Tesco Finest Franciacorta DOCG Brut (£15) was scored at 75, after judges hailed the “clean, fresh” sparkling wine as a good choice for those who like “gently frothy” bubbles. They said it had a “fine, almost shy mousse”.
Asda served up the highest-scoring prosecco. Its Extra Special Prosecco Asolo Brut DOCG – priced at £8 – edged ahead of strong competition from Lidl, Aldi and the Co-op to be awarded 71 by the panel. Describing it as “fun and frothy”, the experts detected “notes of peach and pear.”
The consumer group’s wine experts recently also tasted 15 champagnes – all brut (dry) and costing £35 or less. It found that the Co-op’s own-brand champagne was as good as GH Mumm Cordon Rouge, better than Moët & Chandon and the best value Christmas bubbly.
The British drank 34.4m gallons of sparkling wine last year, but the growth in sales of prosecco has slowed markedly, with drinkers switching to £10 bottles of crémant as a cheap alternative to champagne.
The triumph of the homegrown fizz crowns another strong year for the sector. The fall in sterling has handed a Brexit bonus to English sparkling wines, with many considered to match premium French champagnes in quality but now priced the same or less.
In a further boost for English producers, the Ridgeview estate in Sussex was this week awarded the coveted trophy of the world’s best winemaker in the International Wine & Spirit Competition 2018. This is the first time in the IWSC’s 49-year history that the award has been presented to an English producer.
Miles Beale, the chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, said: “2018 is proving to be a corking year for English wine. The increased number of vineyards, heatwave and warm autumn have resulted in a bumper harvest for our wine producers, who are delighted with the quality of the grapes.
“On top of this, Ridgeview has been crowned the world’s best winemaker, which is a ‘first’ and a sensational achievement. English wine has well and truly earned a world-class reputation for excellence.”
