You probably picture champagne bars as extravagant business meetings and lavish dates.
One of Britain’s most valued supermarkets is now exploring the glamourous world of champagne bars.
In what they claim is the the UK’s cheapest Champagne bar in one of the UK’s most expensive postcodes, Aldi will be selling its award-winning Veuve Monsigny Champagne for just £2.33 a glass.
The supermarket’s first ever premium drinkery is in an area where house prices average £1.8 million, and is just a stone’s throw from the swanky bars of Selfridges and Claridge’s, which sell Champagne at seven times the cost.
In what they claim is the the UK’s cheapest Champagne bar in one of the UK’s most expensive postcodes, Aldi will be selling its award-winning Veuve Monsigny Champagne for just £2.33 a glass
The luxurious and elegant ‘Veuve champagne bar’ shocked passersby on Wednesday when it opened in St Christopher’s Place, 14 Gees Court in London’s busy West End.
Aldi, behind the champagne bar, invited members of the public to taste the bubbly.
On tasting the bubbles, shoppers described it as ‘tasting like Moet & Chandon’ and ‘cheaper than you’d expect to pay anywhere in the country, let alone London’ and estimated that it should be sold at an average of £13.50, before being shocked as Aldi was revealed as the brand behind the bubbles.
Olivia Jones, 26, from Manchester: ‘The bar looked VERY interesting from the outside and I couldn’t believe it when I was told the price – I thought a glass of Champagne like that would cost around £12, especially after trying it. But £2.33 is crazy.’
Abi Digby (25-year-old nurse from Southampton) said that she came with her husband to enjoy a little bit of London. The Aldi Champagne Bar was the perfect finishing touch. I’m no Champagne expert but this tasted like Moët, and I was always told that’s as good as it gets.
Caroline Branton, 51, from St Albans, Hertfordshire said: ‘I thought Champagne was too expensive – but clearly that’s no longer the case if this is anything to go by.’
The supermarket’s first ever premium drinkery is in an area where house prices average £1.8 million, and is just a stone’s throw from the swanky bars of Selfridges and Claridge’s, which sell Champagne at seven times the cost.
Aldi’s award-winning bubbly, which is now the second best-selling Champagne in the UK, in fact retails at just £13.99 a bottle – almost six times cheaper than shoppers thought – making it glass by glass the cheapest on offer in any Champagne bar in the nation.
As well as serving up Aldi’s best-selling Champagne, customers can also choose from Veuve Monsigny Rosé (£2.83 a glass), Zerozecco (49p a glass) and a selection of Champagne cocktails (from £1.09 to £2.69) created by leading mixologist Pritesh Mody.
Adorned with teal velvet, brushed gold and marble interiors, and garnished with festive foliage, the ‘Veuve Champagne Bar’ has the ultimate luxury décor and is in good company with neighbours such as Mulberry, which is a couple of doors down.
Aldi’s award-winning bubbly, which is now the second best-selling Champagne in the UK, in fact retails at just £13.99 a bottle – almost six times cheaper than shoppers thought – making it glass by glass the cheapest on offer in any Champagne bar in the nation
This launch is coming as the supermarket’s research shows that the country will consume approximately 480,000,000 glasses of bubbly during the festive season. Aldi has also recorded record sales for Champagne, selling more than 2 million bottles each year.
FEMAIL spoke with Julie Ashfield as the Managing Director for Buying at Aldi UK. She said that she is extremely proud of the Veuve Monsigny Champagne.
Aldi’s own brand Veuve Monsigny Champagne was born almost ten years ago, in 2012, at the Philizot & Fils winery in the heart of Champagne, France. Lovingly produced by husband and wife duo Stéphane and Virginie Philotz, Veuve Monsigny is matured for over 48 months – that’s two and a half years longer than the minimum requirement for Champagne, and more than 12 months longer than any other UK supermarket own brand Champagne.