‘Not Waitrose or Lidl – I tried every supermarket Prosecco and three stood out’

A wine expert has revealed his favourite Prosecco after blind tasting 16 different bottles from some of the UK’s biggest supermarkets. Tom Gilbey sampled each bottle, which ranged in price from £6.99 to £22, before ranking them into three categories: pass, class and a**e.

Speaking fans through his experiment on his YouTube channel, he said: “What I’m looking for here is apple and pear fruit, crispness, something that’s fresh, not to cloying, really clean, and I can guzzle loads of it.”

The selection featured a mix of widely available branded Proseccos and supermarket-exclusive bottles from Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Tesco, Waitrose, Costco, Lidl and Aldi.

Part of the synopsis for the video reads: “If you’ve ever stood in the sparkling wine aisle wondering which Prosecco to grab, hopefully this will save you a few quid… and a few bad bottles.”

Before tasting, Tom explained that there are two main quality levels of Prosecco: DOC and DOCG. Most Prosecco is DOC, which is produced across a broad area of north-east Italy, including many lowland vineyards. It accounts for around 85 per cent of all Prosecco produced and sold.

DOC is the standard Prosecco produced across a wide area of north-east Italy, while DOCG is generally considered the premium tier, coming from Conegliano Valdobbiadene or Asolo.

Although it sounds counterintuitive, ‘Extra Dry’ Prosecco is actually sweeter than Brut. Brut contains between 0 and 12 grams of residual sugar per litre, while Extra Dry contains 12 to 17 grams per litre.

Though while summing up the taste test, Tom claimed classification meant “c**k all”.

When ranking the bottles, the YouTuber placed five in his a**e category, including one priced at £16.99 from Waitrose, insisting that a huge price doesn’t mean a good taste.

Expressing particular dislike for Maschio Prosecco, which he purchased from Morrisons for £10, he claimed it was “absolutely horrid”.

He also wasn’t a fan of Terra Organica Prosecco, Canti Prosecco DOC and Aldi’s own-label Prosecco Spumante DOCG.

Eight bottles made it into his pass category: I Heart Prosecco DOC (£9.25), Lidl’s Allini Organic Prosecco DOC (£6.99), Conegliano Prosecco from Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference range (£10), Dolly Wines Prosecco (£10.50), Costco’s Kirkland Signature DOCG Prosecco (£8.29), Mionetto Prosecco DOC (£11.50), San Leo Oro Prosecco (£8.25), and Waitrose’s Della Vite Prosecco Superiore DOCG (£22). Prices can vary depending on the store and time of offers.

The bottles that impressed him the most all cost around the £11 mark. These were Yellow Tail Prosecco DOC, which can be purchased in Sainsbury’s (£11), Freixenet Prosecco DOC, found in Tesco for £12.50 and Morrisons’ La Gioiosa Prosecco, priced at £10.50.

“Yellow tail and Freixenet are extra dry, so they’ve got a little more sugar in,” he shared. “But La Gioiosa is a Brut, it’s a very decent little glass of wine.”

Despite placing Della Vite in his pass category, Tom had a warning for shoppers when it came to expensive bottles. He added: “Do not pay £22 for a bottle of Prosecco!”.

According to the NHS, regularly drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week risks damaging your health in many ways.The number of units in a drink is based on the size of the drink, as well as its alcohol strength.

For example, 14 units is equivalent to 6 pints of average-strength beer or 10 small glasses of lower-strength wine.

Please drink responsibly. Alcohol should only be consumed by those aged 18 and over. For independent advice and support, visit Drinkaware.