A Waitrose own label champagne priced at just £19.49 has beaten illustrious champagne houses including Bollinger, Pol Roger and Veuve Cliquot in Decanter's Guide to Festive Fizz.
Proving that supermarket brands can compete against, and beat, premium branded champagnes, Waitrose (http://www.waitrose.com/) Blanc de Blancs NV was one of only two champagnes (http://www.waitrose.com/drink/index.aspx) to be awarded five gold stars.
The other, Piper Heidieck Cuvee Rare, retails at almost three times the price of Blanc de Blancs. Over 146 varieties of bubbly were sampled by a panel of experts in search of the perfect Christmas Champagne (http://www.waitrose.com/christmas/index.aspx) in the December issue of leading drinks magazine, Decanter. Waitrose Blanc de Blancs won Gold and a Regional Trophy for the Best of all Golds, beating major brands such as Bollinger, Lanson, Mumm, Laurent-Perrier, Tattinger and Veuve Cliquot at this year's Decanter World Wine Awards.
Guy Woodward, Editor of Decanter, said, "Champagne is all about sourcing and blending the best raw materials, so for a UK supermarket to beat Champenois at their own game is a tremendous tribute to the Waitrose buying team".
Waitrose have also reported that English wine has seen a rapid increase in popularity this year with sales rising 120% year on year. In fact, the thirst for home grown grapes has been so great, that during November, English wine outsold claret, one of France's most famous wines, on Waitrose.com. English wine specialist Justin Howard-Sneyd, Waitrose Master of Wine, explained.
"English wines used to be regarded as the Cinderellas of the wine world - but now they are taking centre stage, and deservedly so." He continued, "It certainly looks as though many of our customers will be toasting Christmas with a glass of English Fizz."
The supermarket have special offers on Waitrose Champagne (http://www.waitrosewine.com/Default.aspx) and are also offering a number of wine deals
(http://www.waitrosewine.com/Default.aspx?source=35804) over the festive period, so are expecting many customers to be picking up a bottle of their prize winning Blanc de Blancs bubbly and some English wine as part of their Christmas shopping.
About Waitrose
Waitrose is the supermarket division of the John Lewis Partnership, with 186 branches across England, Scotland and Wales. The supermarket is synonymous with high quality produce, and is particularly noted for its wine and beverages and has regular won award at the International Wine and Spirit Competition and from Wine Magazine. Waitrose also strives to promote seasonal produce, locally sourced produce and organic produce.
The John Lewis Partnership is one of the UK's top ten retail businesses and Britain's biggest and longest surviving example of worker co-ownership. All 68,000 permanent staff are Partners in the business and share in its profits - that's why they care about the customers - and the suppliers - and the future