Vintage English sparkling wine: Panel tasting results

Susie Barrie MW, Simon Field MW and Rebecca Palmer tasted 85 wines, with 8 Outstanding and 42 Highly recommended Vintage English sparkling wine: Panel tasting scores 85 wines tasted Exceptional 0

Outstanding 8

Highly recommended 42

Recommended 29

Commended 6

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their current-release traditional-method sparkling wines (brut and drier styles only) produced in the United Kingdom using grapes sourced from a single vintage and labelled as vintage from the last 10 years (2014 and beyond) Scroll down to see the top-scoring wines from the Vintage English sparkling wine panel tasting [subscriber-content]Numerous recent tastings have demonstrated very clearly, to my mind, that the quality of UK sparkling wine is well and truly in the ascendant. This line-up was no exception. As Simon Field MW stated afterwards, it was ‘a fascinating and successful tasting’. In terms of style, as Rebecca Palmer said, ‘blanc de blancs was a real standout’. This was also true of Chardonnay-dominant blends – something that came as no surprise given the quality of Chardonnay that the UK has in recent years proved itself capable of producing. The high-scoring rosés were also impressively characterful and expressive, reinforcing my belief that this is another style that UK producers are increasingly mastering. The bulk of the wines came from the 2018 and 2019 vintages, closely followed by 2020 and 2021. In general, the older vintages (of which there were admittedly fewer) performed less well, though 2016 was the anomaly, with two of the three wines entered achieving an Outstanding rating. Given the UK’s marginal climate, you’d be forgiven for assuming that vintage variation must play a significant role when it comes to wine quality. How encouraging to find that this wasn’t the case and that the skill and ambition of our winemakers is such that even ‘poorer’ vintages can and do yield fabulous wines. For the record, and to illustrate this point, we each chose a different vintage as our current favourite. What this tasting demonstrated above all is that winemaking approach and technique often have a greater impact on style and quality than vintage, or indeed region. Oak in particular was often present, to a greater or lesser extent, in the better wines, with Field rightly stating that ‘an impressive tally of the Outstanding wines used oak’. Extended lees ageing was also a recurrent theme in the top-scoring wines. These are wines that we would definitely recommend you buy. Several are ready to drink now, but the better ones will also keep and develop, and bring pleasure for years to come. [breakout]

What to eat with vintage English sparkling wines, by Fiona Beckett [caption id="attachment_561100" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Credit: NC Photographe/ Shutterstock[/caption] Given that English sparkling wine is of a similar quality to Champagne these days, is there anything to say about partnering them with food, other than that they’re likely to work with similar dishes to Champagne?

Well, here are some thoughts about the standout styles – blanc de blancs and rosé – looked at from a British perspective.

The first is that the former would be great with our excellent seafood – especially shellfish such as lobster, crab and scallops; also, given that we Brits are particularly good at them, with a fish pie or maybe, at this time of year, salmon en croute – sparkling wine has a real affinity with pastry.

When it comes to rosé, think of a summery Sunday lunch with rare roast fillet of beef or a butterflied leg of lamb, again rare; it’s the rareness that makes red meat work so well with a delicate sparkling wine.

And don’t overlook the great pairing of mature fizz with white-rind cheeses, of which the UK has some impressive examples in Baron Bigod and Tunworth.

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