December 5th – Some 200 Sparkling wines were judged over 3 days from 12 different countries by an expert team of 4 judges. Italy and Portugal once again dominated the tables for both methods of production (Traditional and Charmat) gaining most of the Gold and Silver medals.
Highest scores (97 points) in the Traditiional Method of production categories came from Trotton Estate Vineyard (West Sussex, UK), Montalbera (Piemonte, Italy) and in the Charmat Method of production categories, ANECOOP (Valencia, Spain) Other Gold medal winners included entries from Australia (Adelaide), Portugal (Bairrada, Dão & Vinho Verde), and more from Italy and Spain.
While Italy and Portugal continue to dominate the number of entries, the diversity of competing countries and regions continues to evolve. For instance, Domaine du Chant D’Eole, Belgium made its debut this year, winning two silver medals as did Vinarie Pucari, Moldova, also winning two silver medals.
Anthony Swift (Competition Director) said: “We were delighted once again with the quality of the whole range of fizz entered into the competition this year. The 50 Great Sparkling Wines of the World competition does not attract thousands of entries as the annual event only lists Gold and Silver medals in each judging category and so producers not confident of the appeal or quality of their sparkling wine won’t be entering the competition. Awards and scores gained by wine producers are highly valued by the trade and many wine importers make purchases on the basis of the results obtained in the competition and this has great added value for the wine producer”.
50 Great Sparkling Wines of the World 2023 awards and scores can be viewed here
