The winners of this year’s Icon Tasting have been announced at the London Wine Fair, with Champagne named the ultimate winner in the Battle of the Bubbles competition.
The competition saw Champagne pitted against an array of other global sparkling wines, with 26 wines in total scored by a panel of 16 judges. The wines were tasted in pairs, chosen by Sarah Abbott MW and Ronan Sayburn MS, under exam-style conditions.
While Champagne as a category scored higher than global sparkling wines, the very highest scores for individual wines were awarded to English sparkling wines: 2010 Nyetimber 1086 and 2016 Gusbourne 51 Degrees North.
The top-scoring Champagne was the Dom Pérignon Cuvée 2013. Meanwhile, the best value award was given to the Cloudy Bay Pelorus Rosé from New Zealand.
Sarah Abbott MW, MD of Swirl Wine Group, said: “We paired an iconic Champagne with its spiritual fellow from the global sparkling wine trade, and it really was wonderful. I only want to drink Champagne and sparkling wine for the next year.”
She continued: “It was a thrill to select the wines, and to work with these judges. The sparkling wine category is in a very exciting place, thanks to this diversity of style and superb quality. Champagne, of course, is producing wines of exceptional depth and beauty – and all over the world, producers are expressing the beauty of bubbles through their unique varieties, land and methods.”
Ronan Sayburn MS, CEO of The Court of Master Sommeliers, commented: “It was a fascinating experience to taste such a wide range of high-quality sparkling wines side by side. It’s terrific to see English wine do so well. Ultimately, Champagne still reigns supreme with the mature prestige cuvées showing their class. No wines embarrassed themselves and the best of Spain, Italy, California and Australia showed their unique characteristics which were appreciated by the judges.”
At the announcement, Hannah Tovey, head of the London Wine Fair, said: “This year I was delighted to see Champagne take on the rest of the world. I must share my sincerest thanks to the wonderful panel of 16 judges. Suffice to say there were some squeals of delight and some shock factor in there too.”
