England’s Sparkling Wine Wins in Paris Blind Tasting

April 22, 2016 – In what seems to be a reprise of the Judgment of Paris in 1976 when California wines bested the greatest French wines in a blind tasting, sparkling wines from England were judged better than Champagne in a blind tasting attended by the elite of the restaurant and bar trade.

There were some big names from France’s famous fizz region.  For example a £40 bottle of Nyetimber from West Sussex was considered better than a £65 bottle of Billecart-Salmon Grand Cru Champagne by nine members of the 14-member panel.  (Nyetimber was started by Americans Stuart and Sandy Moss in 1988.)

“It is certainly impressive,” said Eric Riewer, President of the hugely influential wine tasting committee of the Gault Millau restaurant guides, as quoted in London’s Telegraph.  The newspaper also reports that Champagne giant Taittinger is among investors buying 170 acres of Kent countryside at a former apple farm near Canterbury.

As we reported recently, another English sparkling wine, Ridgeview Estates wowed judges at TEXSOM 2016 in Las Colinas, Texas earlier this month collecting one gold, one silver and three bronze medals.