Food & Drink

MSE Cheap Prosecco Taste Test 2023

Senior Deals Writer

Created 2 May 2023 | Edited 9 May 2023

If you've got a special occasion on the horizon, you might have a celebratory drink on your mind. We tested nine cheap bottles of prosecco to discover which supermarket fizz reigns supreme in our MSE Cheap Prosecco Taste Test 2023.

We managed to find 20 willing volunteers from MSE Towers to try out each of the supermarkets' budget corked bottles of prosecco, ranging in price from £5.99 to £9.50. We poured tasting amounts into small reusable shot glasses (please be Drinkaware).

The contenders for top fizz were:

Bottles in the taste test

Anonymous number	Brand and product name	Price
1	Waitrose Prosecco 75cl	£7.99
2	Tesco Bella Cucina Prosecco 75cl	£6.49
3	Lidl Allini Prosecco Spumante 75cl	£6.25
4	Sainsbury's Edizione 789 Di Mondelli Prosecco 75cl	£6.75
5	Asda Prosecco Spumante Extra Dry 75cl	£7
6	M&S La Vita Prosecco 75cl	£8
7	Aldi Costellore Prosecco Doc Extra Dry 75cl	£4.99 (normally £5.99)
8	Morrisons Sorso Prosecco Spumante 75cl	£6.75
9	Co-op Irresistible Prosecco 75cl	£8.50 (normally £9.50)

Prices correct when we checked on Tuesday 9 May 2023

The cheapest bottles of prosecco came from Aldi priced at £5.99, which works out at 99p a glass. The most expensive prosecco came from Co-op at £9.50 (when we bought it), which works out at £1.58 a glass – a 59% increase from the cheapest bottles. Co-op says that its prosecco has won "best Prosecco on the high-street multiple times"... but do our tasters at MSE Towers agree?

We asked our taste-testers to consider two main questions:

1. Which prosecco is your favourite?

2. Which prosecco do you think is the most expensive?

We also asked them to give us any general thoughts they had about each prosecco – hoping of course they'd be cogent enough to do so after trying all nine.

And the winner is...

Aldi! Although not by much, as it got four votes, with all of Asda, Co-op, Morrisons, M&S and Waitrose getting three each.

Clearly these MSE-ers are savvy at sniffing out a sparkling deal with one of the cheapest bottles of prosecco coming out top. However, the other two cheapest types of prosecco weren't voted as anyone's favourite.

And we didn't manage to identify Co-op as the most expensive bottle, with most votes going to Waitrose's bottle as tasting like the most expensive.

The top three bottles for each of the two questions...

The Results

Top three 'tastiest' bottles of prosecco	Price	Votes
WINNER: Aldi Costellore Prosecco Doc Extra Dry 75cl	£6.49	4
M&S La Vita Prosecco 75cl	£8	3
Waitrose Prosecco 75cl	£7.99	3
Top three 'most expensive' bottles of prosecco	Price	Votes
Waitrose Prosecco 75cl	£7.99	6
Sainsbury's Edizione 789 Di Mondelli Prosecco 75cl	£6.75	4
M&S La Vita Prosecco 75cl	£8	2

This isn't the first time MSE staff have preferred a cheaper alternative – see our Easter Egg Taste Test and Brownie Downshifting blog. Co-op was our most expensive prosecco, but no one believed it was the priciest tipple. Here's what else our tasters thought...

The feedback

Product	Brand	Comments
	Waitrose	Positive comments: - "Elderflower notes, very drinkable" - "Crisp. Fizzy, but not the up in your nose way" - "Good bubble" Negative comments: - "Unpleasant aftertaste" - "Super acidic, green apple, a little unbalanced" - "Bit medicine-y... not as bad as that sounds though" How many votes for tastiest prosecco? 3
	Tesco	Positive comments: - "Very light flavour, fresh" - "Nice and light, bit fruity. Pleasant" - "Nice sweetness" Negative comments: - "A bit sour, sour grapes" - "Very sweet, tastes like fruit juice, smells bad" - "Really acidic, tastes like cider" How many votes for tastiest prosecco? 0
	Lidl	Positive comments: - "Nice and fizzy" - "Well balanced" - "Dry, not sweet" Negative comments: - "Funky aftertaste" - "Sour cat wee" - "Salty?!" How many votes for tastiest prosecco? 0
	Sainsbury's	Positive comments: - "Sweet (and I like sweet wines)" - "Tastes like apple pie!" - "Enjoyable...even though it doesn't taste of prosecco" Negative comments: - "Tastes like Apple Sourz?!" - "Makes me wince" - "Bitter aftertaste" How many votes for tastiest prosecco? 1
	Asda	Positive comments: - "Nice balanced and subtle flavour" - "Classic prosecco flavour" - "An adult version of the Sainsbury's prosecco" Negative comments: - "I thought I liked it, then I didn't" - "Tasteless and watery" - "Slightly floral... then soapy... then acidic" How many votes for tastiest prosecco? 3
	M&S	Positive comments: - "I'd drink this on a Sunday afternoon" - "Classic prosecco flavour" - "Nice depth" Negative comments: - "Bit chemically" - "Bit burpy" - "Rancid notes" How many votes for tastiest prosecco? 3
	Aldi	Positive comments: - "Very balanced and doesn't linger" - "Quite more-ish" - "Nicely balanced and sweet" Negative comments: - "Makes your tongue feel weird" - "Nothing to write home about (but would definitely still drink)" - "Sour" How many votes for tastiest prosecco? 4
	Morrisons	Positive comments: - "A bit floral, not acidic, not too sweet" - "Softer... very drinkable" - "Nice and sharp... a bit like Lemon Cif but in a good way" Negative comments: - "Very acidic and very unpleasant" - "Nice at first, acidic at the end" - "Too sweet" How many votes for tastiest prosecco? 3
	Co-op	Positive comments: - "The prosecco for people who don't like prosecco" - "Only one that's tasted distinct" - "Very refreshing" Negative comments: - "Gross...really sticky!" - "Tastes like cider...not in a good way" - "Basically sparkling water" How many votes for tastiest prosecco? 3

Turns out, spending more doesn't guarantee a better taste. Whatever you're celebrating, hopefully the feedback from our tasters will help you choose a prosecco that will suit you. As far as the taste buds across MSE Towers are concerned... Aldi is our cheap prosecco taste test 2023 winner (just).

Please remember to be Drinkaware.