The frozen sausage analogy is to be brought out whenever you are thinking about scrimping on a sparkling wine purchase or when you're just good old fashioned skint. For this example I will be basing it on the UK as I've not been in Tasmania long enough to be critical of your sausages but to be honest the general gist is pretty easy to grasp irrespective of your location.
Frozen 'economy' sausages are at the bottom of the sausage scale. Made from the sort of "meat" that is rejected for dog food, a purchase of this is always a mistake. The thinking goes that if it's only for a recipe/party it doesn't matter but then when tooth meets gristle the fun is over and it is impossible to eat any more. The other end of the scale is the butchers sausage (local not in-store supermarket) or Debbie and Andrew's because they are pig meat not pig bottom. http://www.debbieandandrews.co.uk/.
Just because you can buy cheaper doesn't mean you should. Obviously real sausages are far more expensive than the mystery meat ones but going cheap as possible is actually a false economy. See also cheap shoes, seafood, ice-cream, chocolate and Ryanair. Particularly Ryanair. For further suspicious sausage enquiries please contact this man, Jamie Oliver.
Champagne is perfect for the frozen sausage analogy. Nobody drinks the £10 el cheapo champagne and thinks what a beauty this is far better than the Green Point (Domaine Chandon) we ditched just because it didn't say champagne on the label. When it comes to champagne, pay as much as you can afford, and if you can't go over £10-15 then buy a sparkling wine instead.
If you're one of those people who think that if it doesn't say champagne then it is in some way poor quality then I can assure you that everyone else is having a good giggle as they knock back a glass of Roederer Estate or some other gem. Top end sparkling beats lower end champagne. Fact.
Sparkling wine can be more difficult to negotiate as it encompasses the rest of the world but if I'm skint or having a bash, these are my staples to see me through until that glorious day when I can buy a case of Krug and not worry about keeping the roof over my head!
Fuck it, I'll live in the box and be the happiest hobo in town. Whilst i still have my fragile grip on reality, here are my suggestions....
I think if you want to play safe with a big well known brand then you're in pretty safe hands with Lindauer. Despite putting dirty, dirty Pinotage ( it's a bit like this... ) in their rose , which is actually quite nice so don't be too scared, the whole range does the trick and generally will come in under £10.
Cava wise I'm a Codorniu girl, they're all well made and lack the hairspray quality that has given Cava such a bad reputation. So without the whiff of Elnett, the combination of Reina Maria Christina Vintage and a plate of Serrano ham is a joyous dream. If you're having pre-dinner nibbles, ham, nuts, olives that kind of jazz then this would be a welcome treat for your guests.
Prosecco is the current golden child of the sparkling wine gods so it's availability is far and wide so just look out for DOCG it's new fancy pants classification and you'll be headed towards the better stuff. During my years at Majestic, I comfortably got through a heroic amount of this stuff and despite my galloping bias the customers have managed to award it 4 and a half stars for its effort so it's not just me.
English sparkling wine is very much butchers finest so it's not going to be the cheapest drop but it is worth every penny. That said it is possible to buy some dynamite vintage stuff for under £30 so grading on a curve it's excellent value for money.
Other French sparklers can be a bit of a treat but I'm going to be controversial here and say that Burgundy isn't the finest of it. They're good grapes are not sent off to fizz so they're adequate but not massively exciting. There's some great Cremant de Loire and Blanquette de Limoux to be had without getting too far over £10.
If it really, really must be champagne and sometimes it must, then I have two words; Tactical shopping. Keep a sneaky eye out for offers, seasonal deals, bin ends any type of promotional deal really. It can be a bit of a schlep but it does pay off, having a nosey around Waitrose in Tenterden I stumbled across a half bottle of Krug for £37. Enough said.
Where to buy....
Majestic Wine Warehouses Majestic Champagne and Sparkling Wine
Despite my galloping bias towards the Majestic folks, I'm not on my own in acknowledging their scorching deals on champagne and sparkling wines as if you snooze you lose with so many people on to them so act quick to score your fizz fix.
I love Oddbins because they sell Tasmanian sparkling wine Jansz. And Bollinger's neighbour Ayala.
Your local wine merchant
Usually rubbish for a bargain but great for low production interesting wines and random bin end bargains.
Aside from the half bottle of Krug they sell some belting English sparklers and some very good champagne gift sets at good prices.
Netto
Stay with me. In between the wheelchairs, circular saws and German baked beans are random champagne offers. Useless as a regular, reliable source of fizz.
If you want a small growers champagne but don't know where to start then these are the folks you need to talk to.
Approach with caution, use sausage analogy. Often supermarkets have large posters of screamingly good offers but limited stock. Clean them out and then do your food shopping locally.
Hope this helps, parties are always better without gristly sausages and nasty fizz.
