To clear the ground, we asked the six biggest players in mass distribution in Belgium – Delhaize, Carrefour, Colruyt, Lidl, Aldi and Intermarché – to give us a reference for Prosecco, one for Cava and that of their first-price champagne . For Prosecco and Cava, we have set the price range between €5 and €10. For champagne, it is impossible to find references at this price, and that is why we asked distributors to give us the reference of their first price champagne.
And to test all of this, we requested the services of a face known from the small screen, but also from social networks: Professor Fabrizio Bucella. The physicist active at ULB is also a sommelier who has already written several books on the subject. He came to the editorial office to discover the 18 bottles on offer (three references per store, therefore), with the aim of offering you a top 3 for each appellation. Here is his verdict.
The big test of brands: both for taste and price, there were some major surprises for cheese croquettes (COMPARATIVE)
1. Les Prosecco
“So regarding Prosecco, we focused on sugar because often Prosecco is too loaded with sugar, so we generally try to avoid Prosecco that is too sweet. And the top 3 Proseccos are actually made up of… two bottles, you had to be a maths teacher to invent that onehe smiles. The first Prosecco is the famous Prosecco Anno Domini (€7.49) which comes from Carrefour. We found a nice minerality and very pleasant fruity notes. And the second Prosecco is the Ballaturi (€7.99) which comes from Aldi, which was less subtle but very, very correct all the same. The other Proseccos, to be honest, I wouldn't recommend them to my worst enemy!“
2. Les Cava
“As for the Cavas, they tasted relatively good so this time we were able to select the three best. So the first is the Grand Baron Bio from Colruyt (€7.69). That was a hit, a reference, which is well known for its finesse. You can buy it with your eyes closed. The second Cava which worked very well was the Perelada (€12.99) which is a Brut Nature from Delhaize, that is to say a Cava which has less sugar, in fact a dosage of sugar virtually to zero. And the third Cava is the Montecasino (€5.49) which comes from Intermarché. It was also very well made, with a little bitterness at the end.“
The big test of brands in party mode: three references neck and neck for gratin dauphinois (COMPARATIVE)
3. The first price champagnes
“And finally, we come to the first price champagnes. Here too, this top 3 will be made up of two bottles, because the others did not deserve to be highlighted. The first is the famous Comtesse de Grammont from Colruyt (€16.99), which stands out from the crowd every year. It's really very, very well done for the price. And the second champagne which is almost as good is the Vranken La Demoiselle de M. Vranken (€35.99) which has been sold by Delhaize for many years.“
How not to make a mistake when buying champagne
We took advantage of Fabrizio Bucella's presence to ask him for some advice on how not to make a mistake when buying champagne in a supermarket. Because the sample we had on hand represents only a small part of everything sold on the shelves.
To better understand what a first-price champagne is, he explains to us that it is by carefully looking at the back of a bottle that we can find valuable information. We thus find letters like RC, RM, ND or even MA.
“Harvester-Cooperator (RC)means that the winegrower himself took care of the marketing of his champagne, but not necessarily of its production. Harvester-Handler (RM)is found on the bottles of champagne from winegrowers who grow, harvest, vinify and market their champagne themselves from A to Zwe read in the specialist magazine Envie de champagne. Trader-Distributor (ND)which means the presence of a distributor who markets bottles purchased from a champagne producer under its own brand. Auxiliary Markor Buyer Mark (MA) informs the buyer of a bottle of champagne of the simple affixing of the label and the brand of a distribution chain, a reseller, a restaurateur or even a wine merchant, on bottles purchased from several producers.”
According to Fabrizio Bucella, you should be wary of MA indications. “The problem is that a reseller can change supplier from one year to the next and we cannot know. So we can have a very good product in 2024, but maybe something terrible in 2025“, he concludes.
