London Wine Fair’s Battle of the Bubbles took place on Monday – the first day of the show – and the results have been announced on Centre Stage. Twenty-six wines were tasted over two sessions on Monday morning by 16 judges, who comprised a cross section of the UK’s leading palates: Masters of Wine; Master Sommeliers; specialist sparkling wine writers
The wines were tasted in pairs under exam conditions over two flights: Thirteen pairs of sparkling wines – one Champagne and one Global Sparkling. The judges scored each wine out of 100, which resulted in a grand total for each wine, and a final overall score for each group; Champagne and Global Sparkling. The retail price of each of the wines was thoroughly researched and a calculated GBP per point was awarded. The lowest GBP per point was deemed best value.
The pairings were selected by Sarah Abbott MW, MD of Swirl Wine Group and Ronan Sayburn MS, CEO of The Court of Master Sommeliers. According to Abbott, “We paired the wines partly through a direct correlation of grape varieties, terroir, ageing and style. In some cases, for very distinctive wines, we paired them because they had a similar personality or structure, even if their elements were quite different.”
The results were presented on Centre Stage by Hannah Tovey, Head of London Wine Fair alongside Abbott and Sayburn.
Top scoring Champagne: 2013 Cuvée Dom Perignon
Top scoring Global Sparkling: 2010 Nyetimber 1086, UK
Top scoring wine: 2010 Nyetimber 1086, UK
Champagnes: 2,782 points
Global Sparkling: 2,418 points
Overall winner: Champagne
Difference: 15%
Best value: NV Cloudy Bay ‘Pelorus’ Rosé, New Zealand
The top 10 wines were as follows:
- 2010 Nyetimber 1086, UK
- 2016 Gusbourne ’51 degrees North’ UK
- 2013 Cuvée Dom Perignon
- 2010 Champagne Ruinart ‘Dom Ruinart’
- 2013 Champagne Taittinger ‘Comtes de Champagne’
- Champagne Krug Grande Cuvée, 172ème Édition
- 2008 Champagne Bollinger ‘R.D.’
- NV Champagne Egly Ouriet ‘V.P Vieillissement Prolonge’
- NV Roederer Estate ‘Quartet’ Anderson Valley, USA
- 2019 Graham Beck ‘Cuvée Clive’ South Africa
As with last year’s Judgement of London, this year’s Battle of the Bubbles was designed to illustrate a section of the fine wine landscape and whether the playing field had levelled in recent years.
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London Wine Fair’s Battle of the Bubbles: The Results - Wine Industry Advisor
