Champagne under £20

Morrisons Brut Champagne
£19, groceries.morrisons.com
A bit of a sherry nose … dried fruits and nuts with coconut shavings. Might have a bit of age on it? It’s like nutty apple sauce.
★★★★

Asda Extra Special Selection Louis Bernard Brut
£16, groceries.asda.com
A pleasant wine. It smells a bit like armagnac, a little toasty on the nose. Quite easy drinking. Light fruits.
★★★

Waitrose Champagne Brut NV
£19.99, waitrosecellar.com
Smells like apples in wooden crates. Really refreshing, a nice apple tartness to it. You taste the tartness for a long time, but the fruit goes away.
★★★

Comte de Senneval, Lidl Champagne Brut Premium
£9.99, lidl.co.uk
Not to my taste … it’s not sweet, just overly floral. Smells like huge fields of wild flowers. A tiny touch of elderflower.
★★

Prosecco

Valdobbiadene, Aldi Prosecco Superiore DOCG
£7.99, aldi.co.uk
It smells like summer ... the waft of people wearing sunblock at the beach. On the drier side. Well balanced.
★★★★

Waitrose Prosecco DOC
£7.99, waitrosecellar.com
Dry on the palate, canned peaches on the nose; tastes like the furry skin of a peach … which is nice.
★★★

Asda Extra Special Prosecco Brut
£8.28, groceries.asda.com
What’s a sour candy that’s sugary-sour? Worms! It smells like sour worms. Quite floral tasting, like elderflower.
★★★

Tesco Finest Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG
£10, tesco.com
Like a bag of Skittles on the nose. It tastes like canned diet pineapple juice. I wouldn’t drink this.
★★

Cava

Asda Extra Special Marques de Portola Cava Brut
£7.98, groceries.asda.com
It’s not bad, actually. Smells like pot pourri that has been sitting in your bathroom for a really long time. I can taste green, tart, under-ripe peaches.
★★★★

Morrisons Vintage Cava Brut
£7, groceries.morrisons.com
A nice easy-drinking aperitif. Really subtle aromas … Not a lot of fruit. It’s light on the palate.
★★★★

Marks & Spencer Cava Prestige Medium Dry
£11, marksandspencer.com
There’s a little bit of sugar ‒ it’s slightly sweeter than the rest. Very fruity. Tastes like green wine gums, smells like fresh towels at the seaside.
★★★

Taste the Difference Vintage Cava
£9, sainsburys.co.uk
This cava smells like lemon … like lemon polish on steel, and it has a very steely taste too. It’s dry.
★★★

English sparkling

Taste the Difference English Sparkling Wine
£21, sainsburys.co.uk
Lemon jam and slightly nutty on the nose. Quite dry. Rich ‒ I’d drink this with mushroom pasta or roast chicken.
★★★★★

Ridgeview, M&S Marksman English Sparkling Brut Blanc de Blancs, 2013
£26, marksandspencer.com
Quite complex. Tastes like green star fruit; kind of sweet but not, kind of tart but not.
★★★★

Leckford Estate, Waitrose Brut English Sparkling Wine
£24.99, waitrosecellar.com
Medium body. It smells like toffee apples. There are loads of ripe apples on the palate, too, and a touch of toastiness.
★★★★

Tesco Finest English Sparkling Wine
£17.50, tesco.com
Very subtle aromas. Light on the palate. It tastes like freshly squeezed lime and soda.
★★★

Rosé champagne

Harvey Nichols Champagne Brut Rosé 1er Cru NV
£34, harveynichols.com
It has a slight orangey tint. Very dry, a little bit of tannin ‒ like in red wine. Nice balance of fruits and earthiness.
★★★★★

Fortnum & Mason Rosé Champagne, Billecart Salmon NV
£43.50, fortnumandmason.com
Smells like a sweet, hard berry candy. Very light. Not too dry. Light raspberry juice in taste.
★★★★

Morrisons Champagne Rosé
£20, groceries.morrisons.com
Quite a rich rosé. A toasty nose, like strawberry jam on buttered toast. A bit of oakiness. Would go with a grilled pork chop.
★★★★

Oudinot, M&S Rosé Pink Champagne
£28, marksandspencer.com
Tastes quite a lot like steel, with an aluminium aftertaste … really weird. Smells like tinned fruit. There’s nothing much to it.
★★

Vintage champagne

Les Pionniers, Co-op Vintage Champagne, 2008
£25.99, co-operativefood.co.uk
Lovely. Smells like new wood furniture. Grassy on the palate, almost like toasted hay. I’d have this with fish and a butter sauce.
★★★★

Champagne Monsigny, Aldi Vintage Blanc De Blancs Champagne, 2006
£19.99, aldi.co.uk
Less bubbly than the others. Smells like apples and almonds. Very fresh. Really good.
★★★★

Fortnum & Mason Vintage Champagne by Louis Roederer, 2009
£39.50, fortnumandmason.com
It would be nice late at night with a kebab. Tastes spicy, like nutmeg and cardamom. Still fresh.
★★★★

Tesco Finest Vintage Champagne, 2007
£25, tesco.com
Very standard: fruity, not complicated. Smells like lemon jam cooked with brown sugar. Kind of tastes like lemon meringue pie.
★★