The best deals on Champagne in the UK right now

Our Champagne correspondent Giles Fallowfield runs through the best deals on Champagne in UK supermarkets as the late-August price-cutting begins.

As the last summer bank holiday weekend fast approaches, the grocers are once more discounting their wine and champagne prices in an effort to drive footfall.

This comes at a time when the standard retail price for several large houses has reached the £50 mark – both Perrier-Jouët’s Grand Brut and Laurent-Perrier’s La Cuvée have risen to this level – while others have gone further still – Bollinger £58 and Louis Roederer Collection £59.99, price rises which are inevitably slowing sales.

As they both tend to do, Sainsbury’s and Tesco are running the 25% reduction on purchases of six bottles or more in tandem with single price reductions, making it a good time for stocking up on fizz, unless you are of the view that pre-Christmas, if sales continue to dwindle, the discounts will be larger still. The jury is out about that at the moment.

At Sainsbury’s the delightfully fresh and elegant Lanson Le Rosé based on the sunny 2019 harvest with 30% reserve wine in the blend, is down £10 a bottle, to £38 dropping to a great value £28.50 under the 25% off deal. Moët & Chandon Brut Impérial falls £7 to £37 (£27.75 is you buy six) and Mumm’s Cordon Rouge, also on excellent form at the moment, is down £8 to £31 (£23.25). Sister brand Perrier-Jouët’s Grand Brut is reduced £10 to £40, £30 on the 25% off deal. Other attractive offers include Piper Heidsieck down £10 to £29, dropping to £21.75 on the six-bottle deal.

Bollinger Rosé falls £8 in price to £52 bottle, £39 a bottle under the six-bottle deal. This compares rather favourably with Laurent-Perrier Rosé, which has now risen to a regular, eyewatering £80 a bottle, but can be purchased for £60 under the six-bottle deal.

Charles Dauteuil Vintage remains the bargain buy at Sainsburys even without a single bottle discount, if you add some to your six bottle purchase the price falls from the standard £28 to just £21. There’s a great customer review of the Charles Dauteuil Vintage on Sainsbury’s website written but someone who clearly prefers this richer, aged, mature style of Champagne (*see footnote, bottom).

Over at Tesco single bottle deals are thinner on the ground and require a clubcard. Taittinger’s Brut Réserve has a clubcard price of £36, thus dropping to £27 in the six-bottle deal. Piper Heidsieck has a clubcard price of £32, £2 higher than Sainsbury’s, and drops to £24 under the six-bottle deal. Tesco had just started to list Lanson’s high quality Blanc de Blancs style at £62, so now is a good time to sample this vinous delight with the six-bottle price reduction bringing it down to £46.50.

Waitrose prefers not to run single bottle price reductions while doing the 25% off six deal. However, it does have the broadest range of Champagne among the grocers so it’s a good time to buy your fizz favorites that are not regularly discounted by the grocer and not widely available elsewhere. Gosset Grande Réserve Brut thus falls from £54.99 to £41.24. And Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru non-vintage from £39.99 to £29.99. Sadly they no longer stock the top quality Le Mesnil vintage cuvée.

* customer review of the Charles Dauteuil Vintage: “Vintage champagne heaven. Let’s not beat around the bush. If you’ve got a mellow pallet and need a brand, this won’t be your thing. If you like a bold, almond and brioche taste that just hits another level! It’s refined yet absolutely distinctive. The 2011 and 2015 are out there now and both follow the bold and refined model. The 2013 and 2014 may still be around and love them both. If you’re lucky enough to find the 2007, I’ll buy it off you!”