Exceptional 0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Outstanding 11<\/p>\n Highly recommended 40<\/p>\n Recommended 14<\/p>\n Commended 1<\/p>\n Fair 0<\/p>\n Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their current-release brut or drier-style white, ros\u00e9 or red traditional-method sparkling wines, single varietals or blends, produced in the UK using a blend of multiple vintages and labelled as non-vintage or multi-vintage<\/p>\n It was the year of the London Olympics, not to mention Queen Elizabeth ll\u2019s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.<\/p>\n But for UK wine, 2012 was an annus horribilis on a scale hitherto unseen in the modern era.<\/p>\n When a vintage that bad comes along, having a stock of reserve wines to draw on is an essential blending tool in any traditional-method sparkling winemaker\u2019s arsenal.<\/p>\n Sadly, given the nascency of the UK industry at that time, very few wineries had a reserve wine programme.<\/p>\n But as Hattingley Valley\u2019s then head winemaker Emma Rice said: \u20182012 spurred us on to do it\u2019.<\/p>\n Fast forward to today and the industry has evolved from producing largely single-vintage wines to one where non-vintage (NV) and multi-vintage (MV) bottlings play a growing role.<\/p>\n Hence this panel tasting, which also perfectly demonstrated how quality is rising seemingly exponentially.<\/p>\n As Dror Nativ MW stated: \u2018If you consider the number of high scores we gave today, there\u2019s really smart, consistent winemaking in England.\u2019<\/p>\n Depth of flavour<\/p>\n \n (Image credit: Mountfield)<\/p>\n Matt Hodgson concurred, adding: \u2018I think non- and multi-vintage is the right direction of travel for the English wine industry\u2019, and all the judges agreed that the wines containing higher levels of reserves (or just based on older vintages) delivered greater complexity and depth of flavour.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also worth mentioning that almost all the wines we rated Outstanding (95 points or more) had seen oak and spent considerable time on lees, which added further layers of flavour.<\/p>\n One noteworthy observation was the way in which the whites outperformed the ros\u00e9 wines (of the 30 wines scoring 93-96pts, only eight were ros\u00e9).<\/p>\n Hodgson commented: \u2018We\u2019ve always been big advocates of English sparkling ros\u00e9 [at retailer Grape Britannia] and they were great \u2013 it\u2019s just the whites were even better.\u2019<\/p>\n Beyond quality, what I find exciting is that, in the key sweet spot of \u00a330-\u00a350, the best UK wines offer excellent value.<\/p>\n As Nativ said: \u2018Based on the tasting today, we saw brilliant value compared to either Champagne or any worldclass sparkling wines.\u2019<\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t agree more.<\/p>\n What to eat with UK sparkling wines, by Fiona Beckett<\/p>\n \n (Image credit: Shutterstock \/ Mujahid57)<\/p>\n Given that English fizz is of a similar quality to Champagne these days, is there anything to say about partnering them with food other than that they should work with similar dishes to Champagne?<\/p>\n That\u2019s undeniably true, but it\u2019s also good to think about how you might drink them from an English perspective.<\/p>\n Fish and chips is often trotted out \u2013 nothing wrong with that \u2013 but these quality wines would be excellent with more elevated seafood-based dishes such as grilled lobster, seared scallops or salmon en croute (sparkling wine has a real affinity with pastry).<\/p>\n There\u2019s no reason why you can\u2019t take them further afield, too. The impressive low- or no-dosage English sparkling would be great with raw fish dishes such as sushi, sashimi and carpaccio.<\/p>\n When it comes to English sparkling ros\u00e9, what about a summery Sunday lunch with rare roast fillet of beef or a butterflied leg of lamb, again rare, maybe cooked over coals?<\/p>\n Rosy-pink red meat is a surprisingly good match for sparkling ros\u00e9.<\/p>\n See all notes and scores from the UK sparkling wines tastingThe judges Social Links Navigation<\/p>\n <\/a><\/a><\/a>Decanter Magazine, Wine Writer<\/p>\n Susie Barrie MW is a wine writer and broadcaster who regularly appears on Saturday Kitchen, Daily Cooks and Great Food Live. She has also spoken on BBC Radio Two, LBC Radio and BBC Radio Scotland.\u00a0As an author, she has penned Mitchell Beazley’s Wine Made Easy ‘Champagne and Sparkling Wines’, as well as Discovering Wine Country – Northern Spain.\u00a0Aside from Decanter, she contributes to The Sunday Times Magazine. She gives lectures and judges international wine competitions. Alongside her husband, Peter Richard MW, she runs the Winchester Wine School. They have their own website, susieandpeter.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Matt Hodgson is owner of retailer Grape Britannia, which he founded in 2019 to focus on the English and Welsh wine industry, going on to win multiple Decanter Retailer Awards as specialist in this region. He is a judge at the WineGB Awards<\/p>\n Dror Nativ MW is a wine buyer for major retailer Marks & Spencer, responsible for South America as well as Bordeaux, Burgundy, England, Champagne and sparkling wine. Having begun his career in the hospitality sector, he has also worked in varying roles at Hayward Bros, Spar and Sainsbury\u2019s.<\/p>\n UK sparkling wines panel tasting results:<\/p>\n Wines were tasted blind<\/p>\n![\"Mountfield](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/rtJowbYXCrREa6xySbGE78.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n![\"Buttered](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Fmahm7gv8yxYz7ZeqhVAEo.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n![\"Susie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AvLTjtp7b38ZfXA9r6n8dL.jpg\")
Susie Barrie<\/p>\n![\"Matt](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6j36CtoVeSZXFAXmvFAN7a.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Dror](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4joNt4j6rnoYtQcuk6WPFH.jpg\")
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