M&S adds fizz to champagne wars

Another cork was popped yesterday in the cut-price champagne wars with the launch of a pounds 9.99-a-bottle promotion by Marks & Spencer.

As a play on the three-digit price tag, the supermarket is billing the offer on Oudinot champagne - down from pounds 12.99 - as the launch of the "Fifth Emergency Service" to quench thirst for the summer. It follows a move by the Co-op to sell Moet & Chandon champagne at pounds 14.99 a bottle instead of at the wine's more usual price of pounds 19.99. M&S said it was hoping the promotion would encourage its British customers to drink as much fizz as their French counterparts. The pounds 9.99 offer will run for six weeks.