UK supermarkets slash Champagne prices ahead of Christmas

UK retailers have launched aggressive discounting campaigns as demand weakens in the run-up to Christmas. db’s Champagne correspondent Giles Fallowfield reports on the rise of ‘double bubble’ promotions and private label bargains.

With Champagne demand weakening, it looks like we can expect a new round of heavy discounting in the UK off-trade in the run-up to Christmas. It has to an extent already started at Sainsbury’s with a ‘double bubble’ promotion, as we understand the trade refers to it, running until next Tuesday, 23 September. Under this 25% discount (off) if you buy a six-bottle deal, the price of leading brand Lanson Le Black Création drops from the already reduced Nectar price of £33 a bottle to £24.75.

GH Mumm Cordon Rouge has a larger drop still, with the Nectar price down to £29 a bottle while the six-bottle discount brings that down to just £21.75. Nicolas Feuillatte has a smaller one-bottle discount of £2.50 to £26, reducing the six-bottle price down to £19.50.

Pink Champagne faces sharper cuts

In the pink fizz segment, Moët & Chandon Brut Imperial Rosé is offered at a £11 discounted Nectar price of £41, with the six-bottle deal bringing this down further to £30.75. Taittinger rosé has smaller £5 discount on single bottles to £44, making the six-bottle price £33.
With the latest Nielsen data for the year to 6/9/2025 revealing that high-priced pink Champagne is declining in volume by 5% and by 2% in value, there may be more discounting on rosé Champagne to follow. With Bollinger standard rosé price at Sainsburys sitting at £62 and Laurent Perrier’s an eyewatering £82, pre the 25% six bottle discount, there is room for movement.

Private label makes a comeback

The same Nielsen data shows that private label is staging something of a comeback in the current difficult trading period, with all the financial pressures that consumers are facing. Own label volume grew by 19% in the year to 6 September while OL value was up 13%. The higher-priced international brands, particularly in segments like rosé, may find the months ahead more difficult as the grocers can increase their private label offering thanks to supply constraints easing.

Some of the grocers are already putting the emphasis on private label, with Morrisons offering More Card customers their Best Premier Cru Champagne at a 30% discount if you buy three bottles, reducing its price from £27 to just £18.90. Their Etienne Leclair Brut and Brut Rosé are also both on the same three-bottle deal, cutting the price from £25 to £17.50. Their standard Charles de Villiers Brut OL has its More Card single bottle price lowered from £25 to £20, while its cheapest Champagne deal is on Charles Clement Cuvée des Vignerons, down from £25 to £17 for a single bottle.

Competitor responses from Morrisons, Asda and Tesco

Perhaps in reaction to the Sainsbury’s deals, they also have single bottle discounts on Bollinger Special Cuvée (down £16 from £59 to £43), Taittinger Brut Réserve and Brut Réserve Rosé (down respectively from £44 to £34, and from £48 to £40). Nicolas Feuillatte Brut is down £4 to £24 a bottle.

Over at ASDA, the only current discount in their entire Champagne range is on their OL Benoît Renaud Blanc de Noirs, where they offer a 25% discount if you purchase three bottles, bringing the single bottle price down from £24.98 to £18.74.

Tesco has like Sainsbury’s introduced a 25% discount on six-bottle Champagne purchases on most of its standard range, valid until 22 September. Again, it offers ‘double bubble’ discounts on various Champagnes; most notably on GH Mumm Cordon Rouge, which is on good form currently, where there is a steep one-bottle price reduction from £40 to £29, which makes the six-bottle price just £21.75.

The other ‘double bubble’ discounts are on: Lanson Le Black Création, down £10 to £33 and then £24.75 if you buy six, exactly the same as Sainsburys; Lanson Le vintage 2013 down from £49.50 to £44 and then £33, a great price for this very fine vintage fizz with the lovely liveness of the vintage to the fore; Lanson Le Rose Création, down £10 to £37 and then £27.75 if you buy six; while Taittinger vintage (unspecified but the picture on the site shows 2015 a warm ripe year), down £10 to £50 and then £37.50 with the further 25% discount The Lanson, while also cheaper, is arguably from a finer vintage so that’s the one to go for.

Heidsieck Dry Monopole is £9 off at £25 and falls to £18.75 if you buy six. Nicolas Feuillatte Grande Réserve Brut and Brut Rosé NV, are respectively down from £28.50 to £24 and then £18 with the six-bottle discount and the pink from £34 to £28 and then to £21 in the six-bottle discount.

Waitrose offers modest cuts

Waitrose has a few single-bottle discounts plus a measly 5% extra discount if you buy six bottles or more. Moet NV is down £6 to £39; their very decent Blanc de Noirs OL is down £3 to £25; Pommery Brut Royal down £12 to £33; Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut down £10 to £40; Gosset Grande Réserve Brut down £13 to £43; Pol Roger Brut Réserve down £12 to £44 and Telmont Brut Réserve down £10 to £42.

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