Battle of the Bubbles: LWF to host sparkling sparring match
London Wine Fair has announced the ‘Battle of the Bubbles’ as the theme of its annual Icon Tasting. The event will see Champagne go up against its global competitors in a blind tasting contest, drawing upon expertise from across the British wine trade to cast a fresh assessment.
This year’s showcase is taking place after the success of last year’s “Judgement of London” which saw old world and new world wines face off. Both events pay homage to Steven Spurrier’s cult 1976 “Judgement of Paris” which saw Californian wines outcompete French icons in a blind tasting.
The 2025 event should turn heads, especially as English sparkling has begun to compete well with vintages hailing from the famous French region. As reported by Harpers, analysis has shown the average critics’ score for English vintages compete most closely with those from Champagne in the sparkling category. The wines at the event will be selected by Sarah Abbott MW, wine marketing consultant and co-founder of the Old Vine Conference, and Ronan Sayburn MS, CEO of the Court of Master Sommeliers.
The double-blind tasting will take place on Monday 19 May and will see 12 pairs of sparkling wines (one Champagne vs one ‘rest of world’) judged by a panel of 20 of the UK’s top wine experts. The assessing party will include well-known figures such as Sam Caporn MW, Matthieu Longuere MS and Jane Rakison.
The competing sparkling duos are paired according to style, grape varieties, terroir, age and production method. After three hours of tasting the overall score for Champagne vs ‘rest of world’ will be garnered with the final results to be announced on centre stage on Wednesday 21 May at 2pm.
Sarah Abbott MW sees the friendly competition as an opportunity to track the progress of the global sparkling scene.
She commented: “Sparkling wine is a booming and dynamic category which is out-performing Champagne in the UK market. Yet, the hegemony of Champagne in prestige perception seems unassailable. I’m excited to see how these great wines are assessed by our crack team of judges when tasted blind.”
This anticipation is also keenly felt by Hannah Tovey, head of London Wine Fair: “Last year’s Judgement of London became one of the key talking points of the show, with the world of wine holding its collective breath for the results.”
“This year’s iteration is set to be every bit as exciting. As with last year, this is all about celebrating excellence, across the world’s finest wines and we are proud to host what is expected to be one of the world’s most anticipated tastings at London Wine Fair this year.”
Keywords:
Search
56-58 Church Walk, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9AN
Registered in England No. 6646125. VAT No. 938 4452 95
