Sparkling wine: Here are the best bottles of fizz to put some sparkle in your Christmas

As always there are plenty of special offers and I have tasted them all and selected the best. Don’t neglect fizz from our own English vineyards where quality is definitely high.

Whatever your budget, this is my top dozen for flavour and value.

Specially Selected Sparkling Shiraz, South Australia, Aldi £5.59: Just popping the cork and pouring the wine will surprise most people. This is a frothy, fruity, delicious red wine that is so different from all the usual styles of fizz that everyone will want to taste it.

Serve it on Boxing Day alongside Christmas dinner leftovers such as a hot turkey and sausage pie.

The Wine Atlas Lake Garda Sparkling Brut, Italy, Asda £6.97: The picture on the label transports you to this gorgeous region, and the wine, made from Garganaga grapes which give character to the fizz. This is the grape that goes into Soave and the flavours of that wine are reflected in this great value sparkler.

With peach, almond and lemon notes this light, almost-dry fizz works as an aperitif as well as an end of the day reviver.

Taste the Difference Conegliano Prosecco Superiore, Italy, Sainsbury, down from £10 to £7.50 with Nectar until 1 January: A glass of fizz is a great way to welcome guests, and this one has been consistently good over several years with creamy pear and apricot flavours. It is a touch drier than most and so can accompany nibbles at a party.

Codorníu ‘Cuvée Original’ Organic Brut Cava, Spain, Majestic, £9 on a mix six deal: Cava has moved up in quality in recent years, and this has rounded, creamy flavours with a touch of earthy complexity. Produced organically and made in the traditional way, this is a great wine at its regular price, but on offer it is outstanding.

The Best Crémant de Limoux Rosé NV, Morrisons down from £12.75 to £10 with a More card until 1 January: Bottle-fermented fizz at a bargain price. This comes from the cool hills of Limoux in Southern France made mainly from Chardonnay with Pinot Noir adding red fruits and colour while a splash of Chenin Blanc retains freshness and finesse. Aged 12 months on its lees for mouthfeel and depth of flavour.

Alma 4 Phos Pet-Nat, 2025, Argentina, Tesco £12: Planning a hip, trendy party for New Year? Then you need a Pet-Nat, a naturally petillant wine made from Chardonnay grapes. This has its second fermentation in bottle, but is still cloudy with tangy, sweet and sour apple and orange zest flavours. Different and delicious.

Graham Beck The Rhona Brut Rosé, Cap Classique, South Africa, Marks and Spencer £15: Made by Pieter Ferreira, who has won more accolades and ‘best winemaker’ titles than his mantlepiece has room for. This is a classic wine, with a 50:49 mix of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and a 1% addition of Meunier, aged on lees for 12 to 15 months.

I am not sure how that 1% changes the wine but the result is terrific. Pale ballet shoes pink, there are fresh-tasting strawberry fruit flavours and a hint of toast in this lovely pink fizz.

Les Pionniers Champagne Brut, France, Co-op down from £21.75 to £15 starting 27 December until 2 January: I am only just allowed to tell you about this terrific offer, but you have to wait until after Christmas to get the deal. Les Pionniers has been a favourite, great value fizz for many years. At this offer price, go fill your trolley!

Asquith Gardens Traditional English Sparkling Brut, Asda £18: English wine is the new fashion trend, but some are really expensive, mainly because they have had to start from scratch with new vines, new wineries and new marketing.

That’s why this own label English wine is such a great deal. Made by a company called ‘Rolling Hills’, it is in fact an off shoot of a rather grand English wine producer.

Asquith Gardens does sound very much like a desirable residential area in Harrogate, but the name of this wine harks back to the days of the Asquith family who started out with a butcher’s shop in Knottingley and eventually merged with Associated Dairies to form Asda.

Made from the classic Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier grapes, and aged on lees for five years this has fresh, clean, fresh citrus and biscuity notes.

E.H. Booth & Co. Champagne Brut 12%, Booths, down from £29 to £28 starting 19 November until 1 January 2026: When all around there are big price cuts on Champagne it takes courage to stick with a tiny £1 reduction on the regular price, but that is what Booths have done, and I am not surprised.

The flavour for money in this Champagne is exceptional, with a creamy, citrus nose, clear freshness on the palate, wrapped up in a toasted brioche structure.

Long, elegant and fine, this is one to adopt as your house champagne, instead of switching between the big brands and their regular offers.

No. 1 Brut Special Reserve Vintage Champagne 2015, Waitrose down from £39 to £29 until 1 January: If you can’t get to Booths, and now they only have two stores in our county then it is more difficult, head to Waitrose for their terrific offer on a vintage fizz. It has a lovely creamy depth, with peach, pear and baked apple, ending with a rounded, long finish.

This will keep well through spring and into summer so if you have an event planned then stock up and tuck some of this away while it is on offer.

Champagne Mandois Blanc de Blancs 2019, Hoults Wine Merchants, £50 down to £40 until Christmas: This family-owned Champagne house owns 32 hectares of their own vines, most of which are now cultivated organically.

Their attention to details and excellent winemaking has produced this wonderful 100% Chardonnay, Blanc de Blancs champagne which has spent 5 years on its lees, developing complex floral and fruit notes with an edge of toast and almond.