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Champagne discounting takes off as sales slump
Retailers have begun discounting bottles of Champagne in earnest as producers look to plump up annual sales in this last crucial quarter, reports Giles Fallowfield.
Champagne shipments to all markets were down by an average of 12.4% in the first nine months of 2024, while the moving annual total (MAT) to the end of September shows a decline of 10.7%, suggesting shipments might drop by as much as 30m bottles by the year end.
The provisional CIVC figures for October show only a slight improvement, down 11.7% in the first ten months with the MAT dropping by 10.4%.
The Champenois should not be surprised by this slightly gloomy picture, as several of the larger brands raised their prices significantly at a time when demand was weakening.
What happens in the last quarter is always crucial to annual sales as this period accounts for a disproportionately large percentage of the volume in good and bad years alike.
Wide ranging discounting
Evidence of concern is clear from the wide-ranging discounting that is taking place across the UK grocery market. We are seeing many single bottle discounts running at the same time as a variety of 25% off six bottle deals.
Tesco has even cut its often-discounted Louis Delauny Brut NV, selling at £15 a bottle, to just £11.25 if you buy six bottles in total, using your Clubcard. At Sainsbury’s OL Blanc de Noirs TtD is down to £14 per bottle and lower still to just £10.50 (25% off six).
Both Sainsbury’s and Tesco are operating their discounts via their store cards, with some very attractive single bottle price cuts, amplified by the 25% off six bottle deal. The big international brands Moët, Bollinger, Lanson, Laurent-Perrier, Taittinger, Pommery, Mumm, Perrier-Jouët and Piper Heidsieck are all involved.
At Sainsbury’s via their nectar card, Bollinger Special Cuvée has dropped £15 from its new 2024 price of £58 to £43, falling to £32.25 a bottle under the 25% discount deal.
Moët Brut Imperial Brut NV, also at Sainsburys, has lopped £8 off its price to £36 before the 25% discount that reduces the price to just £27.
Lanson Le Black Création has dropped £9 to £31 per bottle, and then further still to £23.25 for this excellently made wine, that usually has at least 12 months age on the cork, something you can check by the disgorgement date on the back label. The longer the better, it’s not a sell-by date.
Moët Brut Imperial Rosé has fallen by £10 to £40 per bottle a(£30 with the ‘buy six’ deal).
Lanson Le Rosé has fallen by £12 from £48 to £36 and then down to £28 (with the ‘25% off six’ deal) for a deliciously made fresh, creamy mid palate, fruity style. The nicely rounded, mature but still fresh Mumm Cordon Rouge is down to £29 (£10 off) and then £21.75, (with 25% off); a bargain.
Best buys
Two of the best buys at Sainsbury’s are vintage wines: Lanson Le Vintage, which is the 2013 and simply delightful, and is discounted from £49.50 to £45 with a nectar card, dropping to £33.75 if you buy six. I would (buy six) because this Champagne will get even better over the next five years or so if you can keep some (and store it well).
Less expensive and without the class, but still very attractive drinking, is the Charles Dauteuil 2015 vintage, not discounted per bottle but dropping from £28 to £21 when part of a six-bottle purchase.
One of Tesco’s points of difference is to have Bollinger Rosé at a club card price of £52 a bottle (down £8 from £60) which via the 25% deal drops to £39.
Moët Brut Imperial drops £8 from £44 to £36 and then to £27, (exactly the same as Sainsbury’s). As does Lanson’s Le Black Création which drops £9 to £31 and then £23.25.
Tesco doesn’t discount new line Lanson Blanc de Blancs, also beautifully made by talented cellarmaster Hervé Dantan, but the 25% discounted price of £46.50 makes it an attractive option.
And from Champagne’s second oldest house, Chanoines Frères, Tesco also has the attractive new line Chanoine Blanc de Noirs down £6 to £28, dropping to £21 under the six-bottle deal
Different Champagnes
Waitrose’s strength is the range of different Champagnes it offers, and its OL lines like the No 1 Brut Special Reserve Vintage 2015, made for Waitrose by Castelnau, is worth seeking out with the price dropping from £35.99 to £27 under their 25% off promotion, under which they give no single price deals.
The upmarket retailer also has Bollinger PNTX17 Blanc de Noirs, which is an all-Pinot Noir style using predominantly Tauxières (a top premier cru vineyard you have probably never heard of) fruit from the 2017 vintage with some reserve wine in the blend, reduced from a fairly steep £91.99 to £68.99, a treat for the serious wine lovers in your life.
Waitrose Cellar also boasts at the same discount price the follow up wine, PNAYC18, which is also a special, vinous offering from the grand cru of Aÿ and the 2018 harvest, mostly.
Ayala’s Briut Majeur is fairly well priced here too after the discount (25% off 6 bottles) cuts it to £27.74, while the fine Gosset Grande Réserve drops from £54.99 to £41.24 under the deal.
I’m an ardent fan of Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs NV (£39.99 down to £29.99) though it’s very sad that Waitrose has stopped stocking the vintage Le Mesnil, which at its tastings usually outshone every other Champagne on display.
Palmer Blanc de Blancs dropping from £53.99 down to £40.49 is also something to seek out with its 2012 vintage sadly reported as already being sold out.
Very drinkable
The Co-op usually gets a number of good write-ups in the newspapers for both its vintage (£37) and NV Les Pionniers Champagne (£22.75), the former being on the exciting fresh 2013 vintage currently. There’s a great offer on the latter starting on 18 December. This always used to be supplied by P&C Heidsieck and said so on the back label which now says ‘Compagnie Champenoise’, but it turns out this is part of the same EPI owned group, so the sourcing remains the same.
ASDA also has a good record of producing very decent OL Champagne at very competitive prices. Its ‘25% off’ deal runs right up to 15 December and its Extra Special Louis Bernard 2014 drops from £28 a bottle to £21 making it a really excellent buy.
I also liked the very drinkable Benoit Renaud Blanc de Noirs NV if you want an under £20 fizz (£18.75 under the deal) for Christmas parties.
Morrisons has Lanson Le Black Creation at £31 down from £42, but its 25% reduction offers are only on OL lines like its Best Brut Premier Cru at £27 which I have not tasted.
Lidl’s Comte de Senneval, which I also haven’t tried recently, sits at £13.99 a price matched by Aldi’s Nicolas De Montbart while its Veuve Monsigny Brut is £14.99. Neither offer a vintage Champagne option.
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