Just a little whinge today about buying champagne in a supermarket - not a great experience at the best of times, but unfortunately one that has just got worse.
Those of you who have been to one of my champagne events or read some of my previous blogs will remember me telling you that that a good strategy when buying champagne is to go to a specialist to get information and then, once you know what you are looking for, try a supermarket to get the best price - things don't always work out this way, but the theory is sound in my experience because supermarkets are just not into product information, but they are into " Pile 'em High and Sell 'em Cheap".
So, on going into my local branch of Sainsbury's yesterday ( for those of you who don't live in the U.K. Sainsbury's is a major supermarket chain over here ) I thought I'd take a look at their champagne selection.
I was a) sort of pleased to see my theory confirmed and b) dismayed to see that there's even less information available for buyers than there used to be.
This is a great shame because Sainsbury's have a good reputation for their wine selection, but on the information front they are doing you a dis-service, at least as far as champagne is concerned
There was quite a wide range of champagnes on sale, from vintage champagne, to rosé champagne, to Sainsbury's own brand champagne - 15 or 20 in total I would say, so that was pretty encouraging.
Not surprisingly most of the selection comprised the well-known brands such as Moët, Lanson, Veuve Clicquot etc, but there was a fair smattering of lesser-known brands too that I suspect might have been of interest to consumers. It was noticeable, mind you, that almost all the bottles had an electronic anti-pilfer tag around the neck.
Now, you'll probably know that there's often precious little useful information on a champagne label, but it's always worth looking on the back label to see if there's something helpful about the blend or indeed anything other than the fancy, but useless, stuff about traditional cellars, respect for nature etc that all champagne houses trot out.
Imagine my disappointment therefore when I picked up almost every bottle only to find that Sainsbury's had slapped a large " Security Protected " sticker over the back label preventing anyone from reading whatever information there might have been available.
I accept that if there is a problem with pilfering then the electronic tags may be a good idea, but why oh why put a sticker right over the back label?
In the absence of any information at all how can you choose? You end up just going for a price point you're happy with or a brand name that you feel safe with. If this is all you have to go on I can't see much point is having a wide selection in the first place because most people will have no clue why or how they are different from one another.
All in all then I think I'll still get my champagne elsewhere
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