Becky Paskin, an award-winning drinks writer, has consulted experts and scoured retailers to find the best Champagnes for under £50, testing everything from non-vintage cuvées by prestige maisons to rosés, blanc de noirs and vintage blanc de blancs from supermarkets. Only bottles that deliver an exceptional price to flavour ratio made the cut, and there is surprisingly a lot of choice.
What is Champagne?
Champagne is a sparkling wine made in the Champagne region of France from three grape varieties: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Some Champagnes are made using techniques that enhance a creamy texture, bready notes and subtle hints of vanilla and oak, while others forgo them to focus on the grapes' natural fruit flavours.
While it's common to believe all Champagne is made the same, styles actually vary somewhat between producers. Some people love the bright, floral and fruit-forward Champagnes, while others prefer the bready, yeasty aromas that come with long ageing.
Champagne terms explained
Non-vintage: a blend of wines from multiple years. Vintage: contains only wine from a single year. Blanc de Blancs: Champagne made with only white grapes, i.e. Chardonnay. Blanc de Noirs: Champagne made with only black grapes but without extracting any red colour from the skins, i.e. Pinot Noir and Meunier. Rosé: Champagne made with white and/or black grapes with colour extraction from the skins to impart flavour and a pink hue.
How the tasting was conducted
All wines were chilled before tasting, with only one bottle removed from the fridge at a time to ensure they remained cool. The wines were nosed and tasted from an elegant white wine glass designed for sparkling wines and chilled reds, to maximise the aromatics on the nose. The glass was rinsed between samples with only water to cleanse the palate. After nosing and tasting, all samples were spat to avoid intoxication affecting judgement – the standard for all wine and spirit tasting competitions.
The best Champagne under £50
Henriot Brut Souverain NV is the best overall Champagne under £50. A rare Pinot Noir-led blend of more than 25 crus from the finest vineyards in Cote des Blancs and Montagne de Reims, it spends more than four years ageing, giving it distinctive aromas of freshly-baked bread alongside stewed apples, pears, lemon peel and a touch of oak. It's also indulgently creamy, with a memorably long finish. £38.95, Tesco.com.
Tesco Finest Vintage Champagne 2019 is the best affordable buy. This 2019 vintage blanc de blancs offers toasty breadiness balanced against citrusy-bright acidity, with aromatic notes of orange blossom and lemon giving way to a creamy palate of apricots, honey and lightly toasted bread. £32, Tesco.com.
Perrier Jouët Grand Brut NV is best for pairing with creamy pasta or white fish. Its signature style encapsulates fresh and floral aromas: orange blossom and aromatic honey, with fresh lemon, jasmine and green apple with sweet yellow plums and melon on the palate alongside a kiss of vanilla cream and oak. £50, Sainsburys.co.uk.
M&S Delacourt Brut Blanc de Blancs 2017 is best for pairing with ham or bacon dishes. This 2017 vintage, made exclusively from Chardonnay grapes, is bursting with ripe stonefruit and orange zest, with a buttery, flaky pastry note reminiscent of peach cobbler. £35, Ocado.com.
Sainsbury's Blanc de Noirs Brut NV is best for New Year's Eve celebrations. A lively, fruity number with a gorgeous nose full of strawberries and cream, and lime zest, which gives way to peach melba, stewed apples and a hint of digestive biscuit on the palate. £26, Sainsburys.com.
Waitrose Blanc de Noirs Brut NV is the best everyday Champagne. A red fruit-driven wine produced from 100 per cent Pinot Noir grapes exclusively for the supermarket by respected Champagne house Maison Bonnet. It opens on juicy raspberries and strawberries, with a hint of kiwi and lime, before delivering a rich note of shortcake biscuits that lingers on the finish. £28, Waitrose.com.
Waitrose Rosé Brut NV is the best alternative for Laurent Perrier's Rosé. Produced from 100 per cent Pinot Noir grapes that are macerated along with the juice to extract colour and flavour, it's superbly aromatic, with cherry blossom, raspberries and ripe strawberries giving solid Eton Mess vibes. £30, Waitrose.com.
Champagne Telmont Réserve Rosé Brut Nature NV is best for autumnal day drinking with a cheeseboard. Made using predominantly Chardonnay grapes with a small proportion of Meunier, it's full of raspberry leaf, red berries and a subtle hint of salted gingerbread. £49.75, Masterofmalt.com.
Ayala Brut Majeur Champagne NV is best for aperitif moments. Blended from 70 crus of multi-vintage wines with Chardonnay as the lead grape, it's crisp and bright, with fresh notes of green apples and pears, lemon zest and peach dancing alongside toasted brioche and almond biscotti. £36, Tesco.com.
Fortnum & Mason Brut Reserve is best for pairing with a range of food. A collaboration between Fortnum & Mason and Louis Roederer, it's fresh and bright with ripe peaches, apricots and just a hint of pineapple, with sweet brioche notes and a creamy, almost cake-like complexity. £46, Fortnumandmason.com.
Champagne Palmer & Co. La Réseve NV is best for special occasions. Comprising up to 35 per cent reserve wines, it oozes notes of pear, apricot and a nutty biscuitiness. £46.95, Thewhiskyexchange.co.uk.
Gosset Grand Reserve Brut is best for pairing with umami-rich food like steak or mushrooms. The oldest maison in Champagne, its palate evolves and bursts forth with marmalade, fruit preserves and toasted sultana bagels. £48, Hedonism.co.uk.
The verdict
There are plenty of options below £50 that will make you and your guests extremely happy, and still leave you with change. The best Champagne is one that's suited to the occasion, food and your palate, but ultimately it has to have balance, complexity of flavour and leave you gasping for more.
For Paskin, that's Henriot's Souverain NV, which has so much depth of flavour thanks to its careful blend of wines from 25 crus and four years of ageing. Special mention also goes to Tesco's 2019 Blanc de Blancs – you won't find a better vintage Champagne for the price – and Gosset Grand Reserve.
