Boozist

Taste test reveals the best and worst cheap champagnes

cheap champagne

Everyone wants to save a few bucks by buying cheap champagne, or more accurately, sparkling wine. But is it worth scraping the bottom of the barrel?

Patrick Cappiello, a wine director, sommelier of the year, and regular Playboy nightlife contributor (SFW), took on the burden of taste-testing 5 bottles of sparkling wine that are under $15. I’d say the man is the hero we all need, but let’s be honest, you’ve probably already bought more than your fair share of cheap champagne. His efforts are still commendable though.

A collegiate Boozist used to buy Cooks by the case for Michigan Football pre-game parties. Nothing gets sorority girls out of their beds quite like the promise of mimosas. I feel bad knowing now that the cheap champagne they cheerfully guzzled was actually the worst substance on earth.

Taste-testing cheap vodka

One thing to note: A professional sommelier is looking for much different things than your average two-buck chuck buyer. The reason most cheap champagne is sweet is because the typical personal proudly yelling, “rosé all day!” as if they’re the first to say it likes their wine sweet. Similarly, Fireball is one of the top selling whiskeys on the market, and it’s most certainly not because it tastes anything like whiskey.

Taste-testing cheap champagne so you don’t have to

Patrick Cappiello, the award-winning wine director at Rebelle in New York City, regularly drinks some of the best wines in the world, but we wanted him to drink like us everyday folk. So we went to the supermarket and stocked up on six sparkling wines that cost less than $15: Cook’s, Martini, Trader Joe’s Blanc, Sofia, Korbel and Piper Sonoma.