When most of us think of champagne we visualise expensive bottles – but not anymore, with Aldi’s £13.99 fizz becoming Britain’s second-bestseller.
The own-label, award-winning budget bubbly has become sought after in the UK and is second only to Moët & Chandon in sales.
Veuve Monsigny has overthrown Lanson, one of France’s most celebrated names and which is usually priced at around £35 a bottle, according to figures from the data firm IRI, reported The Guardian.
Aldi’s champagne was born almost ten years ago, in 2012, at the Philizot & Fils winery in the heart of Champagne, France.
Aldi’s £13.99 fizz (pictured left) has become sought after in the UK and is second only to Moët & Chandon (pictured right) in sales
Veuve Monsigny has overthrown Lanson (pictured), one of France’s most celebrated names and which is usually priced at around £35 a bottle, according to figures from the data firm IRI
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.
The budget price hides an award-winning product, with the fizz placing second in a national taste test of champagnes carried out by Good Housekeeping last year, just behind a £23.99 offering from Waitrose.
Veuve Monsigny also has won numerous accolades throughout the years. This includes a Bronze Award at the International Wine Challenge.
Britons spend around £400million a year on champagne but producers have been hit hard by production problems and delivery issues which mean costs have increased.
According to Wine and Spirit Trade Association data, champagne prices rose by 8 percent in the three-month period ending September. Even Aldi’s Veuve Monsigny costs £1 more than last Christmas.
Aldi’s champagne, pictured below (left), isn’t the only bubbly worth noting. A Which champagne tasting test. placed Lidl’s even cheaper Veuve Delattre Brut (pictured right), which is £12.19, above the Aldi product
Aldi research has shown that champagne consumption in the United States will reach approximately 480M. Aldi also reported record sales of Champagne to date with over 2miIion bottles sold annually.
Earlier this month, Aldi launched the ‘UK’s cheapest champagne bar’ in the West End selling its Veuve Monsigny for just £2.33 a glass.
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.
Yet Aldi’s champagne is not the only cheap bubbly to win plaudits. Which conducted an annual champagne taste test. placed Lidl’s even cheaper Veuve Delattre Brut, which is £12.19, above the Aldi product.
The Lidl champagne was praised for having a’subtle and complex smell, fresh acidity, and a clean, fruity flavor’.