How do they sell Xmas champagne for £9.99?

The question is, how on earth can supermarkets afford to sell their champagne at such rock-bottom prices? In all its essential elements, the Aldi champagne @ £9.99 follows the time-honoured rules of the drink. It’s made from traditional champagne grapes - a third chardonnay, a third pinot noir, a third pinot meunier - using the double fermentation method that produces the famous bubbles. Its alcohol level is 12% - a classic figure for champagne. And it doesn’t taste too bad, either.

According to The Daily Mail, you need 2.2lb of grapes for a single bottle of champagne. At current market rates, that will cost you £4.38. Excise duty on top of that is £2.43, and VAT, at 20%, must be paid on the total - another £1.36.

Already we’re up to £8.17, and we still haven’t paid for bottling, warehousing, shipping and distribution. Those overheads vary but, altogether, the total cost price is almost certain to match or exceed the selling price of £9.99. So, a tight fit until they revert to the normal price of £12.99 until the new year.

If Aldi seems a step too far this Christmas, try Asda @ £10, or Waitrose/Tesco @ £14.99

However, if you feel this removes some of the romance from the Christmas festivities, why not pick up a couple of the traditional brands, the only issue being whether you serve these up before or after the Aldi version…