A GLASS of fizz is a must-have for many of us over Christmas and New Year.
But which supermarket version is the highest quality - for the lowest price?
We’ve tested some festive favourites to find out how supermarket-own goods compare to the big brands.
Today, we’ve looked at the own-brand versions of prosecco sold at Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsburys, and Lidl - and compared them with leading brand Freixenet.
We scored them out of ten for taste and out of ten for value for money, giving an overall score of 20.
Here’s how they compared:
The Freixenet prosecco was floral and fruity, with a subtle melon taste.
It was light and easy to drink, with a gentle fizz.
It’s a great prosecco - but at £12 per bottle, it was nearly twice as expensive as the cheapest versions we tried from Aldi and Morrisons.
The Tesco version was very harsh and made our testers wince when they tasted it.
It had an unpleasant chemical smell which was very off-putting.
At £1.07 per 100ml, this was about mid-range on price but had the joint-lowest alcohol content.
We didn’t feel there was any Christmas cheer about this prosecco.
Asda was the most expensive supermarket prosecco we tested, at £1.33 per 100ml. But it didn’t live up to the price tag.
It was thin and had little taste – but at the same time was quite sharp and dried out our mouths.
Other supermarkets did better prosecco at a cheaper price.
The Morrisons prosecco costs just £7 per bottle – or 93p per 100ml – the cheapest one we tested, along with Aldi.
It wasn’t bad for the money but was quite thin and tasteless, a bit like watered-down wine.
That made it quite easy to drink, even if it didn’t have much festive pizzazz.
The prosecco from Sainsbury’s was a pleasantly light balance of dry and sweet, with a gentle fizz.
It was tasty and easy to drink, making it perfect for festive parties.
At £1.30 per 100ml, this was one of the most expensive supermarket prosecco versions we tried – and it contained less alcohol than other products, at 10.5 per cent ABV.
But the taste was worth the extra cost.
The Aldi prosecco was the joint cheapest we tried but it compared well with more expensive versions.
It had a grassy taste with lots of fizz – which some of our testers loved but others hated.
It might not be an all-round pleaser but at just 93p per 100ml, it was cheap and contained the highest alcohol percentage.
We were thrilled with Lidl’s prosecco, which was fruity and light – just like Freixenet.
It wasn’t quite as smooth as the brand but it was a very close copy. At just £1 per 100ml, you could get a very similar standard of drink for around two thirds of the price of the premium version.
This is definitely going on our Christmas list.
THERE are plenty of ways to save on your grocery shop.
You can look out for yellow or red stickers on products, which show when they've been reduced.
If the food is fresh, you'll have to eat it quickly or freeze it for another time.
Making a list should also save you money, as you'll be less likely to make any rash purchases when you get to the supermarket.
Going own brand can be one easy way to save hundreds of pounds a year on your food bills too.
This means ditching "finest" or "luxury" products and instead going for "own" or value" type of lines.
Plenty of supermarkets run wonky veg and fruit schemes where you can get cheap prices if they're misshapen or imperfect.
For example, Lidl runs its Waste Not scheme, offering boxes of 5kg of fruit and vegetables for just £1.50.
If you're on a low income and a parent, you may be able to get up to £442 a year in Healthy Start vouchers to use at the supermarket too.
Plus, many councils offer supermarket vouchers as part of the Household Support Fund.
